Soul Control
by Velvet D'Coolette
Summary: Pure SatAM. A secret comes between Sonic and Rotor, forcing a barrier between them that neither had anticipated. Can the Fighters become a unit again before their suspicions cause them to fall foul of Robotnik? Sequel to Search for Family.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** "Sonic the Hedgehog" and most other characters and situations in the following story are copyrighted trademarks of Sega Incorporated, Archie Comics and/or DIC Productions.  
Velvet D'Coolette fancharacter © User ID 1415026.

Bookshire Draftwood © David Pistone.

**A/N: This, readers, is the first story I wrote and as such is my least-skilled work. My apologies for the tatty quality of this story but I wanted to put it up anyway for the sake of completeness.**

Chapter 1

Antoine blearily opened his eyes and half-focused on the wall a couple of inches from his nose while he lazily got his bearings. Two seconds later he remembered who was sleeping on the floor next to him and he turned over in bed to see her in daylight. Velvet was awake and curled up under the sheets. Her fur shone golden in the summer light. Her eyes glinted greyish blue and they smiled at each other. "Deed you to be zleepeeng well?" He asked, stifling a yawn.

"Well enough," she replied, making it clear she wasn't so sure. Velvet had snatched a few moments of sleep here and there, but the truth was, Antoine's hut was far too small to sleep two people, especially with her stuff taking up half the space. She'd been curled up like this for ages, because if she stretched a limb out in any direction she'd hit something, which had a tendency to wake a girl up. Now she wondered if she'd be stuck in foetal position forever.

Finally she stretched and winced as her joints protested, and stood up. "Well," she said, "I could murder a spot of breakfast. Couldn't you?"

xXx

Snively walked into Robotnik's office and stood in front of his dictator, holding a pile of reports in one hand.

"Well, Snively? Have you sent it?" He asked, his fingers interlocked over his belly.

"Affirmative, sir. The bait is ready and waiting in the rubbish dump."

"Very good, Snively," Robotnik hissed under his breath, smirking at the ingenuity of his plan. Snively just gazed into the middle distance and grinned.

xXx

Back in Knothole, Antoine was showing Velvet around the village. Before long they wound up by the river and followed it along, talking all the way.

The river ran more or less straight through Knothole, providing all of the villagers with drinking and washing water, before snaking away and widening into a delta, the bank on the Knothole side steepening into a high wall - a classic place to talk in private. This was where the siblings found themselves. A fallen tree log lay by the water's edge and the pair sat. They fell into silence and looked out to the water for a while.

"What do you remember about Maman?" Antoine blurted after a brief silence.

"Enough," Velvet began. "Mum and dad were both fighters by nature. Mum was a solitary type. A few years ago I'd have said they hated each other, but I think I know better now. They wouldn't have stayed together if that hadn't been what they both wanted." She gazed out at the rippling water as she talked, but could see Antoine looking at her out of the corner of her eye. She continued: "She had a sharp look about her - narrow eyes, close-cut hair, skinny figure. I remember her taking medicine. Every morning. But I don't remember what it was. I never looked. I don't think I'd have dared."

"You do not be knowing what was wrong wiz 'er?"

Velvet huffed and was about to say something spiteful but then thought better of it. Why overblow the difficulty of those years? "I don't. Physically she looked healthy. Maybe that's why she had such a fighting spirit. Something internal..."

"'Ow did she die?"

Antoine had been looked after by Princess Sally's minder, Rosie, often. That had been one of the family privileges he had enjoyed as the son of the Captain of the Guard. He had been in her care when the coup took place, so had never known what had happened to his mother. Velvet remembered this and put a comforting hand on his.

"She died trying to protect me," Velvet began with an uncharacteristically hard edge to her voice, before her throat closed with sobs. Antoine looked worried and cuddled her. She buried her face in his shoulder and sobbed.

"Eet ees alraght, eet ees alraght," he said softly, although he sounded uncomfortable and uncertain. He mumbled quietly to her as she regained her composure. Eventually she sat up, wiped her tears away and continued.

"As you know, I was 10 at the time, which was why I wasn't with Rosie like you were. I was with her when Robotnik struck. We were in Mobotropolis. War machines started to fly overhead and robots ran in the streets with laser guns. Mum was shot. She was hurt badly, but managed to order me to hide, so I did. There was a log store with a hinged roof only a short distance away, so I climbed into that and watched through a crack in the wood as she was shot a second time. The robots caught up with her." she gulped, a gorge in her throat. "It wasn't pretty."

At this news Antoine sighed and looked at the ground. He seemed to try to make that the extent of his emotional reaction, but the terrible news was too much. His shoulders shook and tears coursed down his cheeks. He hugged himself, wiped his eyes, muttered, "Non... non!" to himself, looked away from Velvet. He seemed not to know how to react. Quietly, his elder sister put her arm around his shoulders and wept silently with him. They stayed like that for a long time.

xXx

Eventually the pair fell silent and sat watching the tiny fish playing in the shallows. Eventually Antoine sighed.

"We 'ave lost so much," he simpered. "Eet ees too much," and put his face in his hands.

"But we've gained something, too," Velvet murmured. "We have each other, Tony." Antoine looked at her and nodded sadly. It seemed to be all she could say. Perhaps that was enough for now. She forced a smile. "So," she said more lightly, the better to change the subject, "Are you attached?"

"Oui," he said happily, apparently just as keen to move his thoughts on. "I am shin over nose in love wiz ze Princess!"

Velvet sat stock-still for a moment. Shin over nose? But it was supposed to be head over h- oh, never mind. She made an approving sound. "Good choice. She's sweet. Is it serious?"

Antoine's hesitation was tangible, and, when he hadn't replied after a few seconds it became clear to Velvet that the situation wasn't simple. Eventually he said, "She iz not in love wiz me. She iz in love wiz somebody else." He looked miserable.

"Who?"

Antoine huffed. "Sonique."

Suddenly it all became clear. The friction she had detected several times in that conversation last night, Sally's obvious fancy for Sonic (and, she realised, not for Antoine), the glances, the peculiar silences after some of her questions, Bunnie's - Sally's closest female friend's - silent communication. _Ah,_ she thought. That made sense.

"Well," she said philosophically, "I suppose that's the way it goes. Love's like that sometimes."

"...Et tu?" Antoine asked in return. Velvet waggled her head.

"My love life has been as smooth as a disused mountain path. The less said, the better," she grinned, although if the old scars from her past showed as much as she felt them in that moment, Antoine could probably see. Antoine looked as if he felt sorry for her. "Oh, don't worry about me. Failed love makes you stronger," she said, the lightness of her tone belying the message she sought to relay. _I think you need to get over Sally, sweetheart._

xXx

Sally and Rotor eyed the clean lines of the plan sheet critically, trying to find a solution to the obvious design flaw. Sally's ears flicked as she heard Antoine and his sister approaching from a distance. Antoine and Velvet had been talking almost constantly for the last three days and the Freedom Fighters, generally, had left them to it. On the evening of the first day after his sister's arrival Antoine had appeared distant and introspective, and the group correctly guessed that they had talked about their family, about the coyotes' collective losses. By yesterday, however, they had both appeared more lively. But they still had plenty to talk about, and she looked up to listen to their conversation:

"You're joking! Really?" Velvet asked, and leaned back to look again at the stump of Antoine's virtually non-existent tail.

"Mais, oui," Antoine confirmed sadly. He had just told Velvet how he had lost his tail and now, in sympathy with his story, she was grimacing at the thought of the unexpected amputation.

"That must've been horrible," she concluded, shivering with horror. He nodded.

"But eet is worst when eet eetchez. Ze tail is not zere, and I cannot be scratching. But eet was to be stopping eventually."

"Some battle scar. Remind me never to mess with Robotnik, then," she concluded. They found themselves at the communal meeting table where Sally and Rotor were perched, poring over a half-drawn plan and debating what to add to it. Sally looked up as they approached.

"Hi guys!" she called. "Did you sleep well?"

"I feel like a giraffe that's slept in a matchbox," she said with a half-smile, but gave Antoine a kind look nonetheless. "Would any of you happen to know if any huts are empty here?"

Unfortunately, Sally explained, the village was pretty much full. She'd keep her ear to the ground in case anybody had a spare room, but she couldn't promise anything.

"I've got a room," Rotor offered. Sally turned to him.

"And where do _you_ have a spare inch?" Sally asked with a tone of companionable scorn.

"Middle floor!" he smiled. "I can just tidy it a little, and if you don't mind sharing a room with a few bits of junk, Velvet, you're welcome!"

Velvet gave a grateful sigh, and turned to her brother. "You wouldn't mind if I did, would you? Your floor is nice... but there's not quite enough of it, if you know what I mean." Antoine looked slightly put out, but Sally couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, let her go, Antoine!" Antoine folded his arms and sighed in a derogatory way.

"Alright," he said stiffly. "I would like not to be sleeping in my boots in any case!"

"You could have put them on my head," Velvet smiled. Then she turned to Rotor. "Now: rent?"

xXx

Velvet looked around the room with delight: she had a bed, a closet and a fantastic view of the river. She lifted her holdall onto the bed, turned around and looked at Rotor. "Thank you, Rotor, it's fantastic!"

"The back of the bottom floor is my bedroom, but you can have free run of everywhere else - the porch and the top level."

"Excellent! Thank you," she said. "And you're sure you only want half the housework and meals in return for all of this?"

"I don't need anything else," Rotor admitted happily. "Although... if you can get hold of any transistors or maybe a photoconductor or two, or a C-type circuitboard or better..." he mused to himself jokingly.

"Oh, get back in yer box!" Velvet laughed. "The house'll be spotless. So, what do you want for dinner tonight?"

Rotor shrugged. "I've got the stuff in for a pizza, that's about it. But I'm cookin'."

"Are you bollocks, I do a _fantastic_ pizza. Put your feet up tonight, boss!" Rotor laughed and put his hands up.

"Fine by me," he confirmed, and they walked down the stairs together.

"Oh, and by the way, did Tony _really_ have Robotnik cowering against the wall before he had his tail cut off?"

She saw the set of Rotor's shoulders shake with an involuntary laugh, heard the diplomatic pause before he replied, "Uh, no..."

"Ah."

xXx

Rotor walked up the stairs of his home toward Velvet's room, from which he could hear music.

Rotor was shy with girls. When they had first talked two weeks ago when she had arrived in Knothole, he had been embarrassed when she had complimented his ability to find her. At the time he had been grateful that it had been night and that the coloured, flickering firelight had covered the fact that he was blushing.

But they had hit it off very well. Perhaps it was because Velvet was older, but she was good at making conversation, at filling the silences between her and Rotor, so he hadn't felt shy since. That was why he had invited her to share a room of his home. And since she had moved in? Their friendship had grown, and he enjoyed her cheerful and easy way. He knocked on her door and pushed on it when he got the call to come in. Velvet lay on her front on the bed, reading posters she'd gathered for local parties and clubs. She looked up at him.

"Hey," he greeted. "You ready to come down and eat?" In answer, she vaulted off the bed, switched off the music player and followed Rotor downstairs.

"I wasn't playing that too loud this time, was I?" she asked. Rotor shook his head.

"Nuh-uh. So are you going to one of those parties?"

Velvet waggled her head. "Perhaps. The Boiler Room looks good, I might have a pop at it this evening."

xXx

Velvet gave herself a final check in the mirror - the long dress she'd chosen for tonight looked brilliant. She grabbed her coat, trotted down the stairs, said goodbye to Rotor with a promise she'd be back by noon tomorrow and set off into the night.

As she passed by Antoine's hut, he leaned out the window and called a few words to her. She nodded and replied, and waved to him as she left.

xXx

Antoine was by the river, finishing his laundry when Velvet walked by.

"Morning," she said drowsily. He looked up at her and shook his head.

"You were to be staying out all of ze night? I 'ave no understanding!"

Velvet laughed. "Oh, come on, Tony, it's just a bit of fun!"

"Fun? Pah! Dancing badly and leestening to zis big musique? I zeenk a young lady should show delicacy." he insisted.

"Oh, I'll show 'delicacy' all day if you want me to!" she chided. "But give me some good, loud beats any day of the week!"

"Humph!" Antoine sulked. "And look at you. You are tired, you are a mess. I bet you are not even to be fed. When was ze last time you were eating, eh?"

Velvet rolled her eyes. "Yesterday evening. And yes, I'm ravenous, if I'm honest, so I'm going to-"

"Sacre bleu!" exclaimed Antoine in surprise. "You are to be coming wiz me immediately!" and with that, he guided her to his hut to fix up something to eat, while she began to wonder whether she really was the eldest after all.

xXx

Velvet wiped the last piece of bread around the bowl and bit into it. Say what you like about Antoine, he made an amazing soup. "Thanks again for that, Tony," she said between mouthfuls. "You really don't need to worry so much about me, though! It's only a few hours dancing!" Antoine grudgingly accepted that this was the case.

"Now you must to be getting some sleep," he ordered, taking the bowl from her. Velvet gulped down the final piece of bread, grabbed her coat and gave Antoine a peck on the cheek.

"Thanks for the meal! I'll see you tonight!" she said, and headed off in the direction of her home.

Antoine watched her leave and sighed. "You are so very leetle like a lady should be, my sister. But if you must be a rebel, you must be a reb-"

It was then that he noticed something had fallen out of the pocket of Velvet's coat. He walked over to his bed and picked it up. It was half a ticket, from the place she had just been to. He was about to throw it away when he noticed the name of the venue and he stopped dead in his tracks.

The place she had been to had not been called 'The Boiler Room'.

It had been called 'Iniquity'.

TO BE CONTINUED...

**A/N: If you're enjoying this story, you might want to check out my original fiction at FictionPress. Username Palantean Writer.**


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** "Sonic the Hedgehog" and most other characters and situations in the following story are copyrighted trademarks of Sega Incorporated, Archie Comics and/or DIC Productions.  
Velvet D'Coolette fancharacter © User ID 1415026.

Bookshire Draftwood © David Pistone.

Chapter 2

Robotropolis was cold and grey. The chill wind blew old, tatty paper along the streets, and the constant, heavy pollution in the sky overhead attracted enough rain that the ground was always damp and cold. Bunnie shivered and made a visual scan of the rubbish heap. She looked over her shoulder at Rotor, who was picking his way between two mountains of trash not far away.

"Whatcha say we're lookin' for, Shug?" she called.

"Anything big enough to stand inside," he answered. "We're lookin' for the main capsule. And look for broken glass, too. The front of the roboticizer has to be made of glass, and Robotnik doesn't use much of it."

She nodded. More out of habit than anything else, because Rotor had already turned back to the massive pile of scrap metal in front of him. Almost immediately she called again.

"Hey, what about this?" The walrus turned and came in for a closer look.

"Yeah-huh, it looks about right," he confirmed. He leaned a hand against the edge and leaned inside for a closer look, before walking around the back and opening a small door in its casing. "Yeah, this is definitely one of them. I wonder why it's been dumped here so recently?"

Bunnie shrugged. "Robuttnik's always workin' on somethin' nasty," she suggested vaguely. Most of Robotnik's experiments with roboticizers had been done years ago, and the associated parts further into the dump. Robotnik probably had done some more recent research, Rotor guessed. No big deal.

"Well, this isn't going anywhere for now. Shall we look further on in?" he asked Bunnie. She smiled by way of answer and they split up a little, to cover more ground.

xXx

The search revealed nothing else worth taking back, and eventually Rotor called off the search. The pair returned to the empty roboticizer cabinet and prepared to carry it away. Rotor tilted it so that Bunnie could get her robotic arm underneath. She lifted it with her usual powerful grace, and Rotor supported it by holding onto the sides. They made for the edge of the dump and began the slow journey toward Knothole.

Once, Bunnie stumbled and nearly lost her grip on the machine, but she locked her robotic arm and put her hand under the base of the shell to keep it steady. The underneath was greasy and dirty. Bunnie shivered in disgust. When they got Mobotropolis back, and she genuinely believed it would be _when,_ it would need a serious clean.

xXx

There was a tradition in Knothole Village to have a party at least once every season and this summer was no exception. Alcohol had been brewed, special recipes had been dug out and cooked up and bets were secretly made on how long it would be before Sonic got drunk enough to get up and sing. Tonight was the night of the celebrations.

Rotor walked into the bottom level of his home wiping the last of the river water off his skin with a towel. He checked his muzzle for new bristles, pulled out a few, scraped the bases of his tusks and finally grabbed his tool bandolier and rested it back on his shoulder.

Velvet was still in her room.

"Vel? Ya want some cider before the party?" he called upstairs. She called a yes and that she'd be down in a few moments. Rotor had re-aligned a pair of scissors for Sally but had left them on the top floor, so he took her drink upstairs anyway so he could pass it to her on the way up to collect them.

The door to her room was slightly open and he glanced in, putting the cup of fermented juice on the table. He looked up to speak to her and stopped dead in his tracks.

Velvet had not noticed him at the door. She had her back to him and had a loose, vibrant red top around her chest. The back was held together with soft cord threaded through two lines of reinforced holes. She reached behind her back and drew the middle of the garment tightly, the sudden-ness of the movement shocking and erotic, the force pulling her waist in dramatically. Then she reached down and inched her fingers a little way up from the bottom, and pulled a lower set almost as snug. And up to the next one. And the next. Her lower torso was now tightly bound, and she left the strings hanging. The friction kept the strings tight.

Next she bent her arms around and felt the top of the garment, edging downwards with her fingers in a contrastingly slow and methodical way. Then, without warning, her fingers hooked into two of the loops and drew them tight, hard. She reached down to the next set, and pulled hard on them. And down... and down...

Rotor realised he was staring, but he just couldn't pull his eyes away. He watched the way her flesh drew tight as she laced herself up. As she drew the cords tight level with her waist she pulled tighter still, drawing her waist in and creating a set of female curves so extreme Rotor had never seen anything like it before. Her hands worked behind her back as she tied the remaining cord into a bow, the long strings of which dangled behind her back, hanging alongside her tail. She took what Rotor guessed should be a deep breath, which stopped far sooner than it should have done: then he realised that she had laced herself up so tightly her lung capacity was reduced. Then she stretched her arms over her head and stroked her hands down her torso with a satisfied air about her.

Now that Velvet had finished Rotor knew that she'd see him staring at her, but he still couldn't move. His stomach had knotted up and his muscles felt coiled and taut. As she turned towards him he tried to blurt an apology, but he couldn't get any words out, just a short, choking sound. A small part of him felt mortified, but the majority of his mind and body was still enraptured by the impossibly sleek, tight form of Velvet's clothing.

She had noticed him, he knew, but he wasn't looking at her face. She was saying something, too, but he couldn't focus on that, either. She stepped towards him, came within arm's length. Without his conscious direction, his hand reached out and stroked along her waist, and traced his fingers along and down her front.

Then he gained enough control to snap his hand away and look at the floor. He leaned on the door frame steadied himself. He realised he was panting, and felt so aroused he instinctively turned himself sideways so the haunch of his leg would hide anything obvious.

"I'm sorry," he panted, and closed his eyes. He felt sure she was going to go crazy at him.

"Are you alright, Rotor?" she asked. He wiped his hand over his face.

"Uhm... I... got your drink." He offered lamely, pointing at the cup on the table. "I gotta go," he said and stumbled back downstairs, where he opened the back door and sat on the rear step, trying to steady his breathing and thoughts and hoping the prolonged shade out here would cool his body down quickly.

xXx

The sun had gone down and the Knothole Villagers had gathered to line their stomachs and chat before the party began in earnest. Sally and Bunnie were sitting on the side of the grassy slope and, by the look of things to Velvet, were having a fun conversation, for they were laughing and talking animatedly. She smiled and strode over to join them.

"No way! I like those stripes, but Bookshire definitely is _not_ on the menu, honey!" Sally insisted. Bunnie giggled as she tried to finish her current morsel of bread, which she held between the fingers of her living hand.

"Ah, what ya talkin' about, Sally-girl? You love a career man as much as I do!" The girls glanced up and smiled a welcome as Velvet settled down beside Sally, and then looked back at each other.

"Fine, Bunnie, you go for the career man, I'll go for the Otter Brothers!" Bunnie looked outraged for a moment.

"Hey, y'all, greedy! How come you get _two!_" she complained, a wicked smile on her face. Then she turned to Velvet. "So which would you go for, Vel? The doctor with the warm hands or the Work-Out Brothers?"

Velvet's ears pricked forward, a movement which made her look nervous. "Err..." But Bunnie never heard the rest of her answer because she was tapped on the shoulder by another Knothole male and shared a few words with him. Sally turned and smiled at Velvet.

"So? Your choice?" she asked mischievously.

Velvet looked like she'd been caught with her hands in the bank vault. "Err... I..." Sally's face changed slightly as she saw that Velvet was really struggling for an answer. Velvet did a nervous laugh and looked coyly at the ground. "A lady doesn't kiss and tell. You know?"

Sally was surprised that Velvet was so defensive - the question had only been a joke, after all. But the coyote looked genuinely uncomfortable and she changed the subject.

"Nice dress," Sally commented, picking up the conversation again. Velvet glanced down at the flowing dress she had changed into after Rotor's reaction to her earlier choice of outfit.

"Thank you," she replied, leaning back. "I dyed it myself..."

xXx

Rotor pretended to listen to Brookshire's narrative as he regaled the local males with a fishing story. He smiled and nodded in all the right places but was distracted. He forced his mind to stay on the party and kept well away from Velvet, who he had seen chatting with Sally by the grassy hill. He wasn't sure whether he felt relieved or embarrassed that she'd changed her outfit.

Truth was, Rotor wasn't sure what had happened earlier in Velvet's room. What he had seen was a girl putting a top on. Rotor had a small collection of porn in his room - a few magazines, three motion pictures. The movies were quite explicit, with girls doing things he doubted he'd ever get the chance to, inches away from the camera. But watching Velvet pulling her own flesh tight into that top - putting clothes _on,_ for gosh sakes, had been just about the most erotic thing he had ever seen.

That on its own wasn't the biggest problem. He hadn't just watched Antoine's sister getting dressed. He had got so turned on his whole body had seized up. And exactly _what_ had got him so aroused hadn't been entirely the body inside that top.

It had been the top itself. Squeezing hard on her waist and pushing up her br-

"Yo, Rote!" Rotor snapped his head around as Sonic approached. "You okay?"

"Uh... Heh, yeah!" Rotor said, trying to sound goofy. "I was just, uh..." what had he been looking at?

_Come up with something!_

"Looking at that tree!"

_What?_ He could have kicked himself.

Sonic looked at Rotor like he'd just grown out of the ground. Rotor looked back at him with a mixture of nervousness and a hastily-built front of confidence. Something told Sonic not to pursue this line of questioning any more.

"Yeah! Right! Want another beer?"

So Rotor recovered and bantered with his oldest friend. He mostly managed to forget about his worries, but the one thing that kept on coming back into his mind was the thought of those cords, drawn hard through the steel rings in the back of Velvet's top. Easing smoothly against her back and slightly burning her with friction.

Rotor wondered if he'd be able to let Velvet continue to live with him.

TO BE CONTINUED...

**A/N: If you're enjoying this story, you might want to check out my original fiction at FictionPress. Username Palantean Writer.**


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:** "Sonic the Hedgehog" and most other characters and situations in the following story are copyrighted trademarks of Sega Incorporated, Archie Comics and/or DIC Productions.  
Velvet D'Coolette fancharacter © User ID 1415026.

Bookshire Draftwood © David Pistone.

Chapter 3

Antoine was worried. He sat on the fallen tree trunk watching Sonic singing badly on the makeshift stage and wondered how he could approach Velvet.

'Iniquity', the name of the nightclub Velvet had been to the other night, didn't sound like the kind of place the sister of the Captain of the Guards should go to. And she'd lied, too. When he'd asked her where she was going, she'd said the 'Boiler Room' and talked with enthusiasm about the musicians who would be playing there the next night. The Boiler Room itself was well-known enough in Knothole, it was in the neighbouring large town of Greenleaf. A lot of people went there, even from Knothole.

No, Antoine knew she was lying, but he had no idea what this Iniquity place was, or what happened there. He wished he could find out, but how? Princess Sally probably wouldn't know, well-informed as she was, and asking her would mean she knew there was something very strange going on. No, he could not ask her. Better to confront Velvet herself. He stood up and took a gulp of apple-flavoured courage.

"Ah, Velvet!" he greeted, walking up to her as she stared slack-jawed at the stage, mesmerised by the sheer awfulness of Sonic's performance. She turned to look at him and smiled. Antoine got face to face with her before he realised he didn't know how to approach this topic at all.

"I zeenk zat Sonique is not such a good singer as... What waz eet? Black Onyx?" he asked, dropping the name of a performer Velvet had mentioned would be at the Boiler Room. She nodded. No clue as to her deception.

"I'm wondering if we should go up there and show them how it's done!" she replied, referring to her and Antoine's canine history. Almost all of the canine family were beautiful singers, and had a natural ability to sing sympathetically as part of a duet or a cuoir. The end of her sentence was obscured by Sonic, who massacred a high note, and the two dogs cringed together, before looking at each other and laughing. Then Velvet noticed that when Antoine finished laughing, he was looking at her nervously.

"Erm... Velvet," he started, looking into his cup and seemingly struggling for words. "Zere is somezing I weesh to be asking you." Both of them tensed as Antoine searched for the right words. "You... You said you were to be going to ze Boiler Room..."

_Oh no, please no,_ thought Velvet.

"Which eez fine. Very, very... ab-so-lut-elly... _fine!_" Antoine stammered, looking very hot under the collar. "You are to be safe there, yes?" He asked quickly, his face imploring her for an answer.

"Oh... Yes, of course I'm safe there, Tony," Velvet answered smoothly. "The people there are very friendly - I'm in no danger!" she reassured him, her own smile soothing and calm. A little too much so.

Just then, a polite round of applause signalled that Sonic's song was well and truly dead, and she glanced at the stage. "Right," she said finally. "these people deserve better - I'm going in!" and she hurried over to the stage manager to put herself forward for a ballad she always sang well.

Antoine felt hugely relieved that the conversation was over, but was still no closer to an answer. He returned to his seat and watched Velvet quietly as she sang the opening lyrics of the gutsy rock song and the residents of Knothole whooped with recognition.

xXx

Rotor closed the front door behind him and crossed to the kitchen area, where he fetched himself a glass of water. He leaned his back against the work top, sipping and still half-fooling himself that he wasn't thinking about Velvet.

Truth was, he liked her - they got on as if they'd been friends for years. There were never any awkward silences and she had a sense of humour just this side of decent.

He thought she was pretty, but no more than most girls - what he felt because he was a guy. But today, something inside him had snapped and he wasn't sure how he'd react if he saw her. He glanced at the door. She would be home soon. He decided to get to bed first. He downed his water and walked into his bedroom, where he climbed into bed, closed his eyes and tried to sleep.

xXx

Velvet unlocked the front door and peered inside a little nervously, wondering just where her flatmate was. He wasn't here; he'd either gone to bed or was still out. She came inside and filled a glass of water to take to bed.

Wrestling her way, half-drunk, out of her dress, she thought about how to broach the subject of the corset with Rotor. She'd do it in the morning, she decided - it would be better to clear the air. She wasn't sure how he would react to what she had to say, but she hoped that he would be open-minded enough to accept it.

She rubbed her eyes and told herself to sleep. With that, she huddled under the sheets and relaxed.

xXx

Rotor turned over and looked sleepily at the window. Dawn had been ages ago: the sunlight flooded in, branches waved their leaves lazily in the breeze and punctuated the birdsong with rustling sounds. It was a beautiful morning.

He was a little hung over, but not too badly, and he rolled onto his back to wipe the sleep out of his eyes.

He hadn't been able to sleep immediately. He couldn't help thinking about his encounter with Velvet the evening before and had finally, guiltily admitted to himself that it had made him extremely horny. He'd spat into his hand and reached under the covers, giving himself some home-grown relief in the hope that he'd be able to clear the turmoil out of his mind and put it behind him.

Laying here this morning, Rotor realised that his thoughts had turned, again and again, to that top, and although Velvet's body inside it had brought it to life, lent the delicious hardness under that silky fabric, it was the clothing itself that dominated his fantasies. He'd given in and thought things about it that made him sit up now and put his head in his hands. One thought was in his head now, and he didn't know how to deal with it.

He was a pervert.

The clean, innocent view of the day through his window seemed suddenly inappropriate, and he swung his legs out of bed. He might as well get up and keep busy. He found his bandolier and hung it on his shoulder, picked up his cap and put it backwards on his head and walked out into his workshop.

xXx

Rotor gritted his teeth as he heard Velvet's light footsteps coming down towards him and examined the circuitboard he was working on more closely. _Please, don't talk to me,__ please, _don't talk to me, he repeated in his head like a mantra.

"Good morning," she greeted softly. He mumbled something generic in response without taking his eyes off the board. He heard her clutter a little in the kitchen before coming back to sit on the other side of the table from him, a bowl of cereal in front of her. He squirmed.

"I think we need to talk," she said in a low voice. Rotor looked at her for a split second then took his cap off, half-flung it on the table and got up to walk across the room, his back turned to her.

"I don't wanna talk about it," he answered, rubbing his face. "There's something wrong with me, okay? I'm... dirty. Just drop it."

"It's something I want to admit to you, actually," she said. That threw him, and he glanced at her over his shoulder uncomfortably.

"What?" he asked, while somehow also conveying _Don't humiliate me any more._

Velvet looked uncomfortable. "Can we talk somewhere we won't be heard?" she asked.

Rotor sucked air in through his teeth. "Let's go upstairs," he suggested gravely, and the two animals made their way up to the top floor, where Rotor had a balcony and a small, enclosed room. They sat down together up there, although Rotor's posture made it clear he still felt out of his depth.

His lodger cleared her throat and began. "You know the other night I told you I was going to the Boiler Room?"

Rotor looked over at her in surprise. _Why are you bringing that up?_ He nodded tentatively.

"Well, I didn't. There's another club in Greenleaf, a very popular one that attracts people from miles around. They play similar music in there, but the main draw is that it's..." Velvet took a breath. "A fetish club." she rolled her eyes and grinned apologetically as she said it.

Rotor was agog. "A _f-fetish club?_" Velvet looked shy and nodded. "What, you mean, like, whips and chains and... stuff?"

"More than just that, really. There are all kinds of people there. The odd whip and chain, perhaps, but I go there and when I go, I wear a corset - like you saw me in yesterday."

Rotor turned red and glanced away. "So that thing you were wearing... Was a fetish thing," he said, not sure whether that was a statement or a question. So he'd been turned on by a fetish. Did that make it better or worse?

"Yes," she admitted simply. "I like them, I think they're great."

_You're not the only one,_ Rotor thought. "Uhm... Okay," he answered, still not sure how right it was to admit it. "But how can that be..." Rotor searched for the right word. "_good_ for you?"

Velvet smiled. "Wearing a corset," she explained, her words slow as she sought the best way of describing the feeling, "pulls your whole body inwards, it restrains you, and makes it so you have to be careful with every move you make. It reduces your ability to take a deep breath - you can only breathe shallow. It feels like being bound up, controlled. And a girl likes to be flattered," she added, breaking eye contact with him for a moment. "I think you can imagine I get a positive response from others who appreciate the same thing."

This made sense to Rotor. "So you weren't offended that I liked it?" he asked, deciding at last that honesty might be the best way forward. Velvet shook her head with a demure smile and he leaned back on his hands, feeling a little more at ease with the situation. He looked over at Velvet. "I can't believe it, though. So that means I'm a fetishist?" Again, a nod and a smile. "That just sounds, like, really extreme."

"Oh, don't you believe it, sunshine!" Velvet answered, laughing. "There are other people who're much worse!"

Rotor gave her a querying look. "Liiike...?"

"Well," Velvet said, gazing out of the window for an example, before looking back at him. "The small, quiet lizard I saw at the club. She was tied up in silk ropes, gagged, suspended in the air from the ceiling in a large cage, and a big, heavily-muscled ox pierced her skin - _including her face_ - with hypodermic needles!"

Rotor's face registered shock. "That's horrible! Didn't she struggle?" to which Velvet shook her head firmly.

"Not a whisper of complaint!"

Rotor looked out of the window too, settling this in his head. Finally he turned to her. "So, what I felt yesterday. It's really okay?" Velvet confirmed this with a nod. Rotor sat forward and leaned his arms on his knees and shook his head in disbelief. "It's crazy!" he said, half-laughing.

"You've just got a thing for corsets. But not a word to anyone that I go to this club, okay?" Velvet asked. "I can't even imagine what Tony would say if he knew where I really go. He was worried enough last night about me going to the Boiler Room."

"Your secret's safe with me," Rotor confirmed. He stretched his feet out and looked at them. Finally he cleared his throat and stood up. "Well, I'd better get some breakfast," he said, and reached out his hand to help Velvet up. He led the way downstairs.

"Rotor, are we cool now?" her question floated down to him and he smiled.

"Yeah," he answered. "We're cool."

xXx

Rotor stood alone in his workshop, busy checking out the roboticizer capsule. He stood back from it and appraised it. He had been gradually gathering pieces of these machines for several years and hoped, eventually, either to build a complete one or learn enough to build one of his own. He hadn't found a main chamber before so this had been a major haul, if a little greasy. He stroked his chin and thought how this piece would fit together with the other pieces he had.

He thought about Velvet, too. He was glad they'd had that talk, it had helped him level yesterday in his head. He knew, though, that if he watched her do it again, he'd get that same, chest-tightening, all-consuming desire for sex. He wondered how she felt about him, whether sex with her would be on the cards.

He wondered how experienced she was, and that if they did do it, whether she'd realise he was a virgin.

TO BE CONTINUED...

**A/N: If you're enjoying this story, you might want to check out my original fiction at FictionPress. Username Palantean Writer.**


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER:** "Sonic the Hedgehog" and most other characters and situations in the following story are copyrighted trademarks of Sega Incorporated, Archie Comics and/or DIC Productions.  
Velvet D'Coolette fancharacter © User ID 1415026.

Bookshire Draftwood © David Pistone.

Chapter 4

Sally had been working on breaking Robotnik's codes in an effort to intercept his transmissions all day, with limited success. The numbers had finally gone to her head and she switched the computer off, picking up NICOLE and clipping the hand-held computer to her boot. She decided some fresh air was just what she needed, and went for a walk.

She hadn't gone far when she found Bunnie sitting on the dead tree trunk, not looking very much at all like her usual extrovert self. She was gazing at the ground looking lost, so Sally walked over to her.

"Bunnie? Are you okay?" she asked. The rabbit looked up with all the sharpness of a toddler gazing out of its cot. Her voice, when it finally came out, sounded vulnerable and baby-like.

"Yeah, honey. I'm okay."

Sally was worried. "You look a little lost!"

"Yeah, I guess I'm a little lost," Bunnie said. Sally blinked at her, unsure of how to react. Bunnie didn't seem to sharpen up, so she knelt down beside her, feeling a little like she was condescending to Bunnie. For some reason Bunnie didn't seem to mind.

"D'you want me to take you home, sweetie?" she asked Bunnie, stroking her arm sympathetically. Bunnie lifted her eyes to Sally's and smiled vacantly.

"Okay, I'll... take you home... Yeah..." and made a half-attempt to stand up.

_"Take you home"_? Now Sally was really worried. "I've got an idea, Bunnie. Let's take you to see Bookshire."

"See Bookshire? Ah, yeah, Ah'd like to see Bookshire," Bunnie mumbled, dreamily walking along with Sally, who guided her gently in the direction of the village surgery.

xXx

Bookshire Draftwood, the general practitioner for Knothole Village, checked Bunnie's visual responses, her hearing, and her sensitivity to touch. He listened to Sally's description of what had happened when she'd found her, and finally tested Bunnie with a few statements. She agreed to the ones that could be agreed to and remained quite passive to the other statements. Finally, he concluded that she was in an induced hypnotic state.

"What do you mean?" Sally asked, holding her friend's living hand in an attempt to reassure her. Bookshire, brow creased, disrupting the smooth line of his dark facial mask, searched for the right words. He leaned back and held his pen between his fingers.

"I am sorry to say, Princess, but Bunnie has been drugged. Have you seen her take any medication?"

It took a moment before Sally realised what he was asking. "No, Bunnie would never be into anything like that." she said, taken aback. "I've never seen her take anything in her life." Bookshire nodded. Bunnie was a real trooper and this was the answer he had expected. Bookshire had tried to bring her out of her trance without success, proving that this had not been a person-to-person hypnotism and a blow to the head would have shown up in her physical check.

"I'm afraid to say, Sally, that Bunnie has had hypnotic medication from somewhere, and it's had the effect of weakening her willpower. As we've both seen, she agreed to everything you said."

Sally frowned, puzzled. She glanced at Bunnie, wondering why this had happened. "Who would have done this to her?" She asked quietly.

"It's very effective, whatever it is, Princess. She just needs to be looked after for a few hours until the medication wears off."

Sally looked at the ground with frustration and then at Bunnie. She closed her eyes for a moment. She put her arm around her friend and hugged her close. "It's okay, sweetie. You're going to be okay."

Bunnie agreed drowsily.

xXx

Velvet looked at the two pots in her hands. She sucked air in through her teeth and plumped for the basil, opening the lid and sprinkling a generous helping of it on top of the lasagne. She put the dish into the oven, picked up her wine glass and took a large gulp.

Velvet was nervous. There was something she wanted to talk to Rotor about, and it had to be soon.

The door unlocked and in walked Rotor, holding a big bag of shellfish in one hand. "The haul was great!" he enthused. "They're enormous this year!"

Velvet forced a smile. "Excellent work, mon amis! We shall eat like kings tomorrow!" She offered him a second glass of wine which she had poured ready for him. "Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

Velvet watched as Rotor took a big slug of wine, put the bag on the work surface and looked for a knife to cut the beards off the swollen, blue shells. She licked her lips before addressing him.

"Rotor?"

"Mmm?" Velvet took a moment to steel herself before she took a breath to speak. But he beat her to it. "Hey, you know what? I got talkin' to Sonic while I was out. He said he needs more strings for his guitar. Did you see where the music shop is in Greenleaf?"

"Um, no," she replied. Rotor sounded funny somehow. Chirpy.

"Oh, okay. It's just that if you're over there again soon, he kinda wondered if you could pick some up."

"Oh, I'm not sure when I'm going to the next Iniquity!" Velvet laughed, and then straightened her face. "The thing is-"

"Ah, well he can probably pick some up himself before then," Rotor shrugged, apparently unaware that she was trying to speak.

"Yes," muttered Velvet. "Uhm, what would you say if-"

"OW! Bummer," Rotor exclaimed, looking at his finger; he'd cut himself on the knife. Velvet slumped and looked pleadingly at Rotor for a second before picking a box of plasters out of the drawer next to her.

"Come here," she said with a motherly tone and took his hand. She washed his finger before drying it and applying a plaster. He checked the plaster and then looked at her. He looked tired, she thought. No, not tired. Drunk. Strange, as he'd only had about 3 gulps of wine.

"Sorry, you were trying to say somethin'," he said, looking at her with half-closed eyes. She looked into his eyes, her face tense.

"Um... I was asking... If you'd like to come along to the club," she said uncertainly.

Rotor looked surprised and uncomfortable. "Oh... Uh, no!" he laughed nervously. "I'll sit that one out, thanks!"

She smiled back at him tiredly. "Okay," she whispered.

As Rotor turned away and continued cleaning the shellfish, Velvet cursed silently and ran her hand through her hair. She'd chickened out again.

xXx

It was the next morning and Velvet came downstairs late to see Rotor sitting next to the roboticizer capsule, gazing blankly ahead. She frowned. Rotor didn't sit doing nothing, he was always busy. She went over and touched his shoulder.

"Hello, boss! What's up with you?"

Rotor looked drowsily back at her and smiled vacantly. "Hello," he replied faintly. She frowned.

"Did you fall over and knock your head?" she asked wryly.

"Uh, yeah. I... fell over. Knocked my head," he said weakly.

_Why are you quoting me?_ "I think you need to visit the doctor," she decided. Rotor made a small noise of agreement and smiled at her. Velvet stood up straight and pulled his arm to get him standing too.

"I love you," he murmured. Velvet smiled reassuringly.

"I'm sure you do, sweetheart, but let's find out who's put what in your breakfast first, eh?"

"Uh, yeah. Put what in my breakfast..."

xXx

Bookshire checked Rotor for responses in much the same way as he had with Bunnie. When he'd finished, he turned to the village newcomer and asked, "Velvet, will you fetch Princess Sally for me, please? There's something I need to tell her."

xXx

"So you're telling me that Rotor's got exactly the same wrong with him as Bunnie?" Sally asked.

"Yes," Bookshire confirmed. "They've both had the same medicine."

Sally looked at Rotor, who seemed mostly unaware of what was happening around him. She sighed and looked at him with a worried expression. "What's happened to them?" She asked herself.

Sonic patted Rotor on the shoulder. "You're gonna be okay, man."

Rotor vacantly agreed.

xXx

It was the following afternoon, and Bunnie was back on her feet. Sally had watched over her, sitting the rabbit on her bed in her hut so she could watch over her. Bunnie had gazed steadily ahead for several hours until finally, late in the evening, she had started looking groggily around. It had been a while before Sally could hold a conversation with her, and Bunnie's suggestibility had remained for two hours longer. Finally, Bunnie had decided of her own volition to lay down, and Sally had stroked her hair while she went to sleep. Bunnie had woken up after a long, deep sleep and only then had seemed composed enough for Sally to explain to her what had happened. Understandably Bunnie had been by turns furious and upset, but by that evening, Sally had allowed her to go outside alone.

Rotor was on the mend, too. Having been watched carefully by his lodger, he was still under strict orders to stay within sight and had spent the afternoon lounging with Antoine and Velvet, where the pair of them had chatted about Antoine's official place next to Princess Sally and what it meant for them as a family. Now, with Antoine gone, Rotor found himself alone with her again.

Rotor realised he was starting to feel something for Velvet, something he hadn't felt before. Truth was, he spent much of his time either on or preparing missions or inventing something. He liked his work, but even he knew that, sometimes, he was hiding behind his gadgets. In Velvet, however, he had found a girl with whom he felt no pressure. They didn't have to worry about silences or what to say next. He was comfortable with her and had thought more in the past day about whether he should try to take things further with her.

She was standing at the side of the porch watching Antoine leave. She turned and stepped inside. He decided that now was the time to make his move. But he felt nervous.

"Vel?" he asked. She looked around at him as he approached her. He'd been thinking about trying to kiss her all day. Now Antoine was gone and the day was ending in a beautiful sunset. He'd kiss her, he decided, then maybe take her upstairs to sit on the balcony and watch the sun go down. That'd be perfect! He stood in front of her and stroked the side of her face, hoping he didn't look as nervous as he felt. His hands were shaking. He leant forward and brushed his lips against hers.

Her lips were soft and warm, but Rotor noticed, she wasn't kissing back. He began to feel a sense of dread. Something was wrong. He touched her shoulder with his other hand in what he hoped was a reassuring gesture and pulled back from the kiss, smiling and hoping she'd give him a positive response.

She looked up at him. _She looks as nervous as I feel,_ he thought.

"Rotor," she said, her voice quivering.

"Yeah?" he whispered, and rested his forehead against hers. Her body was tense under his hands.

"I'm gay," she answered. Rotor pulled his head upright as if she'd pushed him, his eyes wide as saucers.

_"What?"_

She breathed out and looked back at him with wide, nervous eyes. "I'm gay," she repeated, almost apologetically. Rotor didn't know what to say.

TO BE CONTINUED...

**A/N: If you're enjoying this story, you might want to check out my original fiction at FictionPress. Username Palantean Writer.**


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER:** "Sonic the Hedgehog" and most other characters and situations in the following story are copyrighted trademarks of Sega Incorporated, Archie Comics and/or DIC Productions.  
Velvet D'Coolette fancharacter © User ID 1415026.

Bookshire Draftwood © David Pistone.

Chapter 5

Rotor stood opposite Velvet, still stunned by her news. The butterflies in his stomach dropped like lead weights: she wasn't interested in him. Rotor felt miserable - this is how he'd thought it would be with any girl he liked. He should have played safe, he told himself.

He felt like he'd always be doomed to fail. He considered himself ugly, he felt clumsy and inadequate, he knew he was fat... He sighed and looked at the ground; his shoulders slumped. He felt embarrassed and unsure of what to do next, so he looked back at Velvet to gauge her thoughts. The young coyote couldn't look him in the eye and turned the other way, ruffling her hair.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I didn't want you to think I was leading you on."

Then he realised: although he felt disappointed, rejected, she looked even more miserable than he did. _Actually, scared,_ he thought. She looked scared. Rotor looked from this oblique angle at the expression on her face as she leant on the worktop. She looked so upset, he realised. He knew then that he couldn't let her deal with his misery as well. He walked over to her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay," he soothed. She looked up at him.

"You're not angry?" she asked. Rotor shook his head, feeling better already for comforting her. "So we're still friends?"

"Totally," he answered, smiling. He noticed her look of relief and realised that, although he had wanted to be with Velvet, he didn't mind that she would never want him, too. She hadn't rejected him personally, he realised. He thought about the fact they were firm friends and realised that it was actually okay that way.

She smiled. "Well, in that case, there's only one thing I can do next..."

xXx

A thick blanket of grey fog covered the Great Forest as Rotor wished Velvet good luck. She'd chosen to come out to her brother on her own, although he had offered to be there. He had asked if that was a good idea, knowing how much of a stiff Antoine was, but Velvet had reminded him that Antoine held a high, official position in the House of Acorn and would be far better informed of this piece of family gossip as soon as possible. Rotor had agreed, but he wondered, as he stood on the porch and watched her traipse off into the gloom, just how Antoine would react.

xXx

Sonic, Sally and Bookshire each smiled a 'good morning' to Velvet as she walked past. Sonic carried on talking, but Sally saw the worry on Velvet's face and wondered what was wrong. She watched out of the corner of her eye; saw the young dog knock on Antoine's front door; visibly steel herself as she waited for the door to open. The sound of the coyotes' voices were flattened by the damp atmosphere. Antoine looked worried when she spoke to him and invited her in. Velvet went inside and the door closed.

"I don't know, Sonic," Sally continued, turning her attention back to the hedgehog and raccoon. "it was like they couldn't think for themselves. They just agreed to everything. Both of them-"

The three animals' heads whipped around as they heard Antoine shouting in his hut, and Velvet shriek a response. None of them had any idea what was being said: the argument was conducted in French.

"Tu ne pouvez pas etre ! C'est anormal!" They heard Antoine lament.

"Tony, se calmer." Velvet replied. "S'il vous plait. Je vous dis juste-"

"Tu anormal pique une crise! Pour qu'etes-tu venu ici? Partir, je ne tu veux pas!"

"Tony, l'arreter! Ne pas m'appeler cela!"

"Sortir de ma maison!" Antoine shrieked. He stormed outside as if to leave, then turned around and launched a tirade against his older sister, his hand held in front of his face as if to indicate a distance. "Tu venez dans ma maison, tu venez cette fin a moi, et tu me dites tu etes..."

"Vous dire je suis ce que, Tony?"

"Tu etes... Je ne peux pas le croire! Vous degoutez!"

"Tony, je suis-" She started, then glanced at the trio and tried to guide Antoine back indoors. "Allumer. Allons l'interieur."

He flinched from her. "Partir!"

"DANS!" She snarled, then slapped him hard on the shoulder in the direction of his front door. They both stormed back inside and the screaming continued.

Sonic and Sally were both rooted to the spot, slack-jawed, but managed to exchange a glance, as if either of them might know what the fuss was about. Suddenly, Velvet launched herself out of the front door and stormed off in the direction of Rotor's house. Sally watched her go for a moment, wondering if she should follow, or perhaps speak to Antoine, and then decided to let both cool down a little first. She cleared her throat.

"Okay, um... Bookshire," she addressed the doctor. "What was wrong with Bunnie and Rotor?"

"Well," the raccoon rumbled, still looking a little confused by the drama that had just unfolded in front of them. "both of them were under a temporary hypnosis which didn't go away when I tried to bring them out of it - it appears that it was achieved by chemical means." He took in a breath and looked at Sonic and Sally meaningfully. "Bunnie and Rotor were drugged."

Sonic and Sally gasped and looked at each other. "How'd this happen?" asked Sonic. He was already growing visibly angry.

"I have a theory. Part of the roboticization process involves the use of a serum, a medication that induces the state you saw both of them in, Sonic." Bookshire began. "That serum is administered by touch - a Mobian only has to have some on their skin and it gets straight into the bloodstream. Extra strong effect if they ingest any. Have Bunnie and Rotor touched anything lately, perhaps on a mission?"

Sally seethed. "The roboticizer! They both went to pick up a capsule, doctor."

Bookshire nodded. "Where is it now, princess?"

Sally huffed and shook her head. "Rotor's house. He's keeping it to study. It must have been old serum from since it was last used."

Bookshire shook his head. "Sally, the serum has a limited shelf life and it's hard to make. You don't waste a drop of it once you've made it, at least, not if you can help it. The serum they both touched wouldn't be left over. The capsule was just the bait. It was a trap."

Sonic locked eyes with Bookshire. "Butt-nik needs his ass kicked," he growled. "You got any new counter-attacks in mind, Sal?" But Sally shook her head.

"Sonic, we need to be careful when we next go there. Robotropolis is so damp - he could put that serum anywhere." She looked sad and continued: "Rotor said he thought it was strange where they'd found it. It was right at the entrance of the heap. It's _so obvious!_" she snapped, and stamped her foot.

"Sally, if it's any help," Bookshire suggested, "the serum can only be produced using a rare element found in the upper atmosphere of Mobius as a catalyst. I've no doubt Robotnik has a special robot he uses to gather it."

"Then that's it," she determined, and turned to Sonic. "We go to Robotropolis, find the robot and destroy it! Let's call a meeting - noon at Rotor's place."

xXx

Sonic was as confused by what he had seen that morning as Sally had been, and was looking for Rotor to ask if he knew what had happened. He heard hammering and looked up to see his old friend repairing a look-out post, and climbed up to speak to him.

"Hey, Rote," he greeted.

"Hi, Sonic," the walrus greeted, tossing his hammer and catching it's head end before tucking it under his belt.

"D'you know if there's something wrong with Velvet?" he asked. Rotor's face fell.

"Like what?"

Right there. That was the tone, the facial expression that Sonic saw that first made him suspicious. Rotor was usually cheerful and easy, but today something was different. Sonic replied:

"Sally and me saw her go to Antoine's place, and she went in, and they had a mondo bust-up. Then she came back to your place. I kind of wondered if you knew anything about it."

Despite Sally's frequent laments about Sonic's rashness, he had a certain skill with interrogation. It could be seen as nothing, but Sonic asked precisely this question because if there was anything going on, a flicker of guilt would show on Rotor's face. Sometimes the information you gathered in the blink of an eye was the most useful.

There it was.

"Uh, no," Rotor answered. "I don't know what's up with those two. She came back upset, but I don't know exactly what was wrong. Just that they'd been fighting."

Sonic forced his face to say open and concerned. "Okay," he concluded. "I guess it's just a brother-sister thing."

"Uh, maybe," Rotor laughed and shrugged. Just a little too emphatically. He _was_ hiding something. Sonic got up and made to leave.

"Yeah," he said, the comment intended to sound like he'd forgotten the incident already. "Well, bye, Rote!" and he slid down the ladder and off in search of Antoine.

xXx

He found him sitting on a log by the river, hurling pebbles into the water. For once, Sonic eschewed his usual jokey greeting for what he hoped would be interpreted as a friendly one.

"Hey Ant," he greeted. The coyote turned his head in Sonic's direction, scowled and looked back out into the delta. He threw in another stone. Sonic sat down beside him.

"What was all that about this morning?" Sonic asked.

"Eet eez not of your businezz, hodgeheg!" Antoine snapped.

"Ah, come on," Sonic replied, ignoring Antoine's wrong pronunciation. "We all saw it."

Antoine tried to remain silent, apparently hoping that Sonic would go away. Sonic refused to move. Before long Antoine's impatience got the better of him and he lamented: "Velvet... she iz... Ze Princess is not safe about 'er." And with that he flung the remainder of his stones into the water and stormed off.

_Sally?_ Thought Sonic. Sonic let Antoine go, deciding to try again another time. He looked around for a moment before setting off to see if he could get any more information out of Velvet.

xXx

Velvet was at the other end of the village, trying to take her mind off the drama of that morning. She did not want to cross paths with Antoine again quite yet so had gone to the edge of the Forest to be alone. She had three apples with which she was trying to juggle. A flash of blue moved in the corner of her eye and she looked around. It was Sonic.

"How's it goin'?" he asked with a half-smile.

_Please don't let this be about this morning,_ she thought to herself. He looked amiable enough but it did indeed appear that he had something to say. "Just trying to teach myself something new," she laughed. But she knew he hadn't come to talk about juggling and her mind was racing.

"What happened this morning?" he asked, clearly taking the direct route.

_SHIT!_ Velvet panicked inwardly. "An argument - sibling stuff," she said nonchalantly, trying to pass it off as nothing.

"Yeah, but what?"

No such luck, evidently. She struggled to find an answer for a moment before grasping at the first feasible reply that came into her head. "I met someone in a club a few days ago and he doesn't like it." _Aarrghh!_ her thoughts screeched back at her. _What are you doing?_

"You've got a boyfriend?" Sonic asked with amusement. Velvet seized the chance and shrugged.

"Something like that." _That's enough questioning. You don't need to know any more. Please..._

"So what's Sally got to do with it?"

Velvet felt her jaw almost hit the ground. _FUCK! He was so ashamed of me being gay! He can't have told him! I didn't even say I fancy her!_ "Who said she did?" she asked, only too aware of the panicky tone to her voice.

Sonic looked less than happy and lowered his tone, jabbing her in the chest with his finger. "I'm watching ya, Vel. And if I catch ya up to anything, you're out of this village." and with that he turned and walked away, looking over his shoulder to repeat, "Remember. I'm watching you."

Velvet sighed and looked at the sky. _Bollocks, bollocks, BOLLOCKS..._

xXx

It was mid-day, and the Knothole Freedom Fighters had gathered around Rotor's workstation on the sheltered porch. Sonic sat at the table, Sally at his side. Beside the Princess Bunnie Rabbott was perched. She had gotten her confidence back, but her recent drugging had brought her, if anything, closer to the Princess.

Rotor stood on the other side of the table, facing Sonic and Sally and considering what Sally had just suggested. At the end of the table sat Antoine, sullenly staring at the table, reacting to nothing. He was evidently listening though, as his ears twitched at the conversation. And at the background noise of Velvet. Nobody said anything about the commotion earlier that day.

"It's a good idea, Sally," Rotor said slowly, considering the problem as he talked, "but there's one problem - Robotnik can make another one. I think it would be a bad idea for us to keep on coming back to Robotropolis just to keep destroying these things. It would be too predictable."

"You're right, Rotor," she admitted. "But we have to stop him somehow."

Rotor glanced over his shoulder at the roboticizer, wondering what could be done. The room fell silent, except for the quiet swish of hot water as Velvet washed up in the kitchen area. Then Rotor stood up straight. When he looked back at the other Freedom Fighters he had a mischievous smile on his face. "You know what we could do?" He watched Sally shake her head with confusion. "Change the blueprint!" Her face fell - of course!

"That's all you need to do? Get at the blueprints?" Sonic asked. Sonic had decided to give Rotor the benefit of the doubt just for now and not ask any more questions. Rotor was a good guy and he couldn't see Rotor hiding anything from him for long. He decided to wait for the walrus to speak to him. He'd probably talk later today.

"That's all, Sonic! Then he can make as many as he likes - they won't work!"

Bunnie, Rotor and Sally looked positive, but Sonic noticed that Antoine was still glowering.

Antoine hadn't cheered up one bit since his argument this morning with Velvet. He was even more waspish than normal. He and Antoine didn't really get along, but there had been something else in that conversation over and above the coyote's jealousy. Antoine really was angry about something. Sonic wondered what. Whatever it was, Antoine could hardly bear to look in the direction of his sister. Sonic shared a glance with Sally, who seemed almost as confused about the situation as he was.

"Velvet," Sally suddenly called and looked over to the kitchen. "I'd like to you come along."

Velvet looked back at Princess Acorn blankly. "On a mission?" she asked after a pause, a half-dry plate between her hands.

"Yes," Sally said encouragingly. Velvet glanced at Sonic, who shrugged, clearly not giving away their earlier conversation, and then at Antoine, who looked quickly back at the table top.

"Well, I'd, err... Alright," she said uncertainly, but seemed happy to go along with the plan.

"Princess, you cannot to be seriouz..." Antoine objected, but his sentence fizzled to nothing as he saw the look on Sally's face: she wasn't going to be argued with. Velvet was going with them. That was that.

xXx

"Sal, I'm telling you," Sonic said emphatically, "Velvet's up to something. And she's got Rotor in on it, too!"

"Sonic, calm down," she soothed. Sonic just crossed his arms and scowled at her.

Sally knew as well as Sonic did that something was wrong, but she couldn't in her heart believe that it was anything sinister. Velvet had indeed been a little secretive since she had come here, and although she didn't know why, it was clear that she needed to level it with her brother first.

"Maybe Rotor _does_ know more than he's saying, but he wouldn't put us in danger. And Velvet's not dangerous, she's just arguing with Antoine. It's not our business. Let them get on with it. They'll open up eventually."

Sonic uncrossed his arms and looked at his feet. "Yeah, maybe, Sal. I just got a feeling that... I dunno."

Sally approached him with a seductive smile and put her hands on his shoulders. "Rotor will come back to you soon, I promise," she said quietly and gave him a kiss on the nose. He smiled back at her, but the smile left his face as she turned away.

Sonic knew Sally well enough to trust her. She was seldom wrong about anything, but there was something at the back of his mind. Rotor had been affected by this serum and, since then, he had been evasive, not as willing to talk to Sonic as he had been before. Velvet lived with him so had plenty of time to work trouble if she wanted to. Sonic and Rotor been friends for years and Rotor was known for his easy and light way with people. But that had changed, and Sonic wondered if he should watch both of them very carefully...

xXx

The other Freedom Fighters had gradually disbanded after the meeting, leaving one by one. As Bunnie walked out the door and in the direction of her home Velvet counted to 10 before closing and locking the door behind her. She rested her back against the door and put her head in her hands.

"What a _day!_" she lamented, her words muffled against her palms. Rotor smiled sympathetically and walked over to her.

"Been a tough one for you, huh?"

"No shit," she replied. "I need to chill out. Are you sure you won't come out dancing with me?"

TO BE CONTINUED...

**A/N: If you're enjoying this story, you might want to check out my original fiction at FictionPress. Username Palantean Writer.**


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER:** "Sonic the Hedgehog" and most other characters and situations in the following story are copyrighted trademarks of Sega Incorporated, Archie Comics and/or DIC Productions.  
Velvet D'Coolette fancharacter © User ID 1415026.

Bookshire Draftwood © David Pistone.

Chapter 6

Rotor followed the coyote as she wound her way through the dark passages of Greenleaf. The buildings were tall and grand, reaching high into the clear, starlit sky. The streets were wide and spacious, and some of the windows were still lit with the flicker of candlelight. Greenleaf, a city built to a similar plan to Mobotropolis, with the same stone used to build the houses and shops and the same occasional fountain sprinkling crystal clear water into the air, looked much like the capital city had before the coup, and had managed to escape the other city's fate mainly because it was nestled so deep within the Great Forest. The sound of drumming began to sound up ahead. Velvet glanced over at him and smiled reassuringly.

He was beginning to wonder why he had agreed to come to Iniquity, and he had no idea what to expect. The stories she had told him about the place were colourful enough, and it wasn't as if he didn't believe her, but surely people didn't behave like that in public? Surely everybody who came here must be much more experienced than he was. As he trotted across a road to keep up with her he began to regret coming.

"I'm not sure I wanna do this." he said quietly, his voice trembling.

"You might feel better when you see the queue," Velvet replied. "We're almost there!"

Just then, they rounded the corner and Rotor saw, ahead of them, a low, small building from which a long stream of Mobians trailed. The queue was long and varied, but that wasn't what caught his attention as they walked along its length toward the end. It was the outfits.

At the head of the line stood a boar dressed impeccably in a top hat and silken shirt, his jacket perfect black and his shoes shining. He leaned with both trotters on a silver-topped cane. He looked the picture of porcine dignity. Velvet greeted him as they passed and he glanced and nodded, but did not smile. "He's been coming here for years," she whispered to Rotor once they were out of earshot. "He comes alone and looks for somebody to be his slave."

A couple stood chatting together not far behind him. The hamster and lion each sported a pair of synthetic, fully-functioning wings, which the hamster was flexing languidly as the pair conducted their conversation.

Three animals - one a Tazmanian Devil, the other two obviously mammals but exactly what type Rotor couldn't be sure - stood facing the direction of the entrance, dressed dark and swathed in laces. One in particular - sporting a now-familiar nipped-in waist - caused Rotor to turn his head as he passed and they exchanged a smile.

Rotor continued to glance at the people in the line, and then suddenly looked forward and quickened his step, his expression worried. "I think I just saw someone I recognise," he said out of the side of his mouth to Velvet, and hurried on.

So it continued, a visual feast of diversity and sensuality until they came to the back of the queue and waited. Rotor looked at Velvet with a disbelieving expression and she couldn't help but laugh companionably. "Quite something, eh?"

xXx

"There you are, my good friend," shouted Velvet over the drums, handing Rotor a drink. "Get that down you!"

Rotor looked around. He guessed he fitted in well enough. Once inside, Velvet had taken him into a quiet corner and taken out of her backpack a roll of tape. The tape was striped with yellow and black, printed over with the word DAMAGED. She had taken his bandolier from him - he had left his cap at home at her suggestion - and then skilfully, she'd wound it around his torso and arms until he was loosely draped in it. She'd turned him toward a ceiling-high mirror and stood back to inspect her work. She'd seemed happier with the arrangement than Rotor, who just felt stupid. Not as stupid as he'd have felt had he not seen the queue, but that didn't take away all of his self-consciousness.

"You know," he called back, "I still feel a little..."

A skinny goat walked confidently by who was obviously male but had dressed in a lacy bra and panties.

"Okay, I feel normal now." And he did, compared to _that._

Then she'd led him down a long flight of stairs into an underground chamber lit with iron candle-holders. The ceiling was high - not surprising after the length of the staircase - and several layers of the ground had been carved smooth to make a variety of dance floors, pathways and seats. A warm yellow glow permeated the cave. Rotor walked over to a set of railings and looked down over the edge, where a gathering group of animals were already dancing.

All of which had brought them to where they were now. Rotor looked around at the throng, and then down at himself. _I'll drink this,_ he decided, _and if I don't like this place by the time this cup's empty, I'm going._

"Still feeling a bit out of place?" his companion called. He nodded. Then his gaze locked on a doorway to their right.

"Where does that go to?"

"The dungeon."

At this, Rotor just had to laugh. "A _dungeon?_ What's... What's it like down there?"

"Fancy a look?"

"Heh... O-okay. But you're going first!"

"Come on, then!"

So they did. They walked through the carved arched doorway and down another flight of steps. The air that wafted up from the dungeon was warm and a little humid, but not uncomfortably so. Other animals walked up or down the stairs. The traffic was building.

They emerged into a one-level, curved room. Over the furthest end, set in a curve that matched the wall, were a variety of wooden-and-rope devices, designed, it appeared, to stretch out an animal's body and keep their limbs out of the way. A small crowd was already gathered in front of a couple of them and Velvet led Rotor to the centre one.

A sheep, her wool shaved into a complex pattern and dyed pastel colours, was standing on a wooden platform. An assistant, a lemur with a slightly bored expression, helped her thread her hooves into a pair of wrist-locks and wound a lever so the ewe was stretched tall, her back to the audience. Then the lemur picked up a soft whip from the edge of the platform and began to spank the sheep's ass with it. The sheep wriggled and shifted her feet with delight.

Velvet gave her companion a sideways glance and a grin, and he could only do the same in response.

xXx

That had been, perhaps, an hour and a half ago, and Rotor was starting to feel the effects of the drinks they had been sipping. Which was no bad thing, he decided.

"It's really strange here," he shouted, glancing around as an otter with enormous breasts and a collar and leash around her neck passed by, led by a battle-scarred bear. "I'm not sure if this place is for m- Are they doing what I think they're doing?" he asked. Velvet looked in the direction of the opposite edge of the chamber.

"... What do you think they're doing?"

"Um... Mating."

"Yep."

"In _public?"_

"Yep."

Rotor paused. "Really?"

"Yep."

Rotor shook his head in disbelief. "Crazy."

Velvet waggled her head before deciding not to break the chain. "Yep." Rotor looked at her.

"Are you going to say that to everything?"

"Probably." They looked at each other and burst out laughing. Then Rotor glanced back down to the main dance floor, where a dense crowd were dancing enthusiastically to the edgy drumming. Suddenly the atmosphere seemed more fun than threatening and the drummers' beat was getting under his skin. He decided to relax.

"Let's dance!"

xXx

And so it passed that they spent the next several hours dancing in the thick crowd under cover of a gradually darkening cave, and when they decided they wanted a rest or a change of scenery, they moved, and when they felt thirsty they drank. That night Rotor saw many things.

He saw a lithe female bat giving a tiger a blowjob, the big cat's head resting against the damp rock of the wall and lolling with pleasure. He had tried to look away, but couldn't help but glance back, and often. But if the couple noticed at all they didn't mind. In fact, at one point the tiger started chatting to a male stood next to him. Eventually the bat had stood up and the tiger had smiled lovingly at her, murmuring and wrapping her protectively in a thick pair of stripy arms.

He saw Velvet begin to dance with a female seal, the females' bodies gyrating in well-practised synchrony, their eyes locked always on each other. And the coyote had kissed her with a confidence Rotor had not expected from the shy-looking Velvet.

He saw a pangolin in the dungeon, dressed incongruously in a metallic astronautical outfit, and he had chatted with him about this and that, and had unwittingly triggered a torrent of deep philosophy from the armoured animal about science fiction. Rotor had wondered at one point whether he would ever get away.

But what grabbed his attention most of all was a tightly-corseted reindeer. A soft-muzzled, confident female older than himself with dark eyes shrouded under long, thick eyelashes, who danced up to him in the crowd in the early morning hours, and to whom Rotor had danced back and, having thrown his self-consciousness to the wind, had put his arms around her waist and sidled up close for an electric kiss. Her soft hooves caressed his back, reaching lower down as she pressed against him, and it soon became obvious he had a partner for the night.

Separated as he now was from Velvet, who seemed to crop up occasionally, happily patting him on the shoulder and calling to ask if he was enjoying himself, he wondered if this might not be a possible course of action. They escaped to a seat at the edge and he fetched them each a drink. They sat down and looked around the busy cave. They talked, touching each other and throwing tender smiles. He discovered that her name was Solar.

xXx

Rotor walked hand-in-hand with Solar in the direction of her nearby home. In the caves the drums and chanting had eventually ceased, leaving the crowd smiling and hugging and talking and preparing to head off toward their various destinations. He, Solar, Velvet and the seal had been dancing together, and the coyote had demurely wished the couple goodnight, understanding that Rotor would not be coming home with her.

"I'll see you when I see you," she had said and made toward the door, winking at him as she took the seal's hand and whispered something in her ear. Which had left Rotor and his reindeer companion together. She had asked him to come back with her, and he had been unable to refuse.

Presently they came to a sprawling hut, and Solar led them inside, closing the door behind them. Prancing gracefully to a tabletop, she picked up a box of matches and lit a succession of candles, so that they might see. Rotor looked around appreciatively. It was a warm, cosy home.

"Come here, sit with me," she murmured softly as she reclined on a soft sofa. Obediently, he sat down next to her and put his arm around her, as he had been doing so for half of the night.

The walk, and the relatively normal surroundings of this hut had sobered him up a little, and he realised he should tell her the truth. He took a breath.

"Solar," he said. She tilted her head, listening intently. "I gotta tell you something." He paused and glanced at the floor, feeling a little ashamed. "I haven't done this before."

She rolled her shoulders delicately. "Tell me more?" she asked, trying to clarify.

"Um," he replied, scratching his neck. "I've never... been with a woman." He turned a little red and glanced away, and sensed that she had sat up a little. He cringed slightly; he felt sure she would laugh. When he looked back at her, she was looking closely at him, but there was no ridicule in her face, only compassion.

"Your first time?" she asked, although they both knew the answer. "In that case," she whispered, leaning closer to him, "I'm going to make this very..." ...closer... "...very..." ...she brushed her lips against his... "...special."

He tried to answer that that would be very nice, but they were already locked in a kiss. So instead he responded by kissing back, tracing the edge of her corset with his finger.

xXx

Rotor shifted his weight to allow Solar's leg to pass underneath him, and lowered himself onto his elbows. He was laying on top of her, his eyes closed as he felt the rhythm of her body and inhaled her sweet, warm breath. They had been moving slowly together for some time now and he had enjoyed every second of it, but now was the big moment: his erect penis lay between her legs, brushing the soft fur around her vulva. He hesitated; he opened his eyes and looked into hers, and she understood his trepidation. Without a word, she smiled and reached down, taking a firm hold of his erection and guiding it towards her vagina. His breath shuddered and he moved his hips accordingly, and then groaned as the head of his penis passed into the warm folds of her moist flesh. Needing no more encouragement, he pushed deep inside her, and then braced his feet against the bed. He looked down at her.

"Are you okay?" he whispered, and she nodded, a sultry smile on her lips. He pulled out a little and thrusted back in then, his first pelvic thrust pleasurable in the extreme and he growled with the ecstasy of it. He pulled back out, learning where to place his weight and how far out to pull, before pushing back inside. He continued, learning instinctively how to move with each successive thrust.

She sighed appreciatively and enveloped him in her long, slim arms. Almost immediately he felt the need to speed up and he knew this embrace wouldn't last long. He hugged her in return, his grip around her shoulders strengthening. He tensed and stretched, burying his face hard into her shoulder, his tusks grinding - perhaps a little too hard - against her neck. After a couple of breaths, he relaxed. She murmured quietly into his ear, nuzzling him.

He propped himself up on his hands and looked down at her, embarrassed. He was sure he should have lasted longer than that. He opened his mouth to apologise, but she reached up and held a finger to his lips. "Relax with me a while," she whispered invitingly, patting the space on the bed next to her. He sighed and looked gratefully back at her, a lop-sided smile on his face. He pulled out of her, noting with satisfaction the wet feeling between her legs, and lay on his back beside her. She huddled up to him and they dozed together. Before Rotor fell into a shallow sleep, he looked at the ceiling and smiled to himself.

TO BE CONTINUED...

**A/N: If you're enjoying this story, you might want to check out my original fiction at FictionPress. Username Palantean Writer.**


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER:** "Sonic the Hedgehog" and most other characters and situations in the following story are copyrighted trademarks of Sega Incorporated, Archie Comics and/or DIC Productions.  
Velvet D'Coolette fancharacter © User ID 1415026.

Bookshire Draftwood © David Pistone.

Chapter 7

Rotor laughed, although he wasn't sure why. He just couldn't believe his luck. Solar grinned playfully and nodded toward the headboard. "Go on," she smirked.

He clambered onto his knees and knelt on the bed, straddling Solar and holding onto the headboard. Solar was already sitting with her back resting against it. She traced her hooves down his hips and along the sides of his cock, the end of which was only a whisker's width away from her mouth. Rotor looked down at her, gripping the headboard in anticipation.

She opened her mouth and wrapped her long tongue around it, languidly tasting the contours of his glans. Then she licked from the underneath to the very tip, before opening her mouth further and taking half of his length, her lips tightening against his shaft and sucking gently. Rotor's grip tightened and the breath caught in his throat. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on the headboard, letting out a long, shuddering breath. It felt good, he decided. _Very_ good.

Solar settled into a hypnotic, soothing rhythm, her head bobbing backwards and forwards, matched by the firm grip of her hoof around his shaft. The front two branches of her antlers tapped against his broad belly and he looked down at her, watching her gentle, constant movement. He reached down and stroked the edge of her ear. "You're a Goddess," he whispered, and he meant it.

Solar's eyes opened and she glanced back up at him, her dark eyes twinkling mischievously under her long lashes. Then she pushed her head further forward so that almost all of his - not modest - length was in her mouth. Shuffling her bottom backward she gulped and pushed forward again so that her warm, wet nose pressed against his groin. The walrus grunted and gripped the back of her head, panting for air, before letting go and allowing her to move as she wished. Gulping again, she stroked his haunches, before pulling back.

"Oh, man," he shuddered. Wrapping her fingers around his shaft again, she began to lick the head more thoroughly, occasionally relieving him with a skilful twist of her wrist. Rotor opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. He began to feel the familiar feeling of mounting pressure and wondered whether she would spit or swallow. He convulsed as she teasingly slid her hand along his length again and he began to thrust gently, hoping she'd get the hint and stimulate him more.

He needn't have worried. She took him into her mouth again and began to bob her head backward and forward in earnest, gradually speeding up, her own breathing quickening audibly. Rotor's abdominal muscles contracted and he groaned, breathing heavily, his eyes clamped shut. With a final contraction he faced the ceiling again and cried out as he squirted warm semen into Solar's mouth once, twice, three times, four times, before exhaustion smothered his muscles and he leaned on the headboard, his body relaxing as he got his breath back.

He felt her tongue on his glans and opened his eyes just in time to see Solar swallowing down the last trace of his sperm. He smiled weakly at her.

"That was incredible," he sighed.

xXx

Rotor freed his arm from under Solar's leg and used his fingers to part her vaginal lips. There, as she had told him, was the small nub of flesh. He glanced at her face as she smiled back at him, and then pressed his lips against it. He opened his mouth and licked it, pressing his tongue firmly against it. She gasped quietly and sat up. "A little more gentle, babe," she murmured. He threw her an apologetic smile and tried again, flicking it from side to side with the tip of his tongue. She relaxed a little more and lay back on the bed. "Mmmm," she said appreciatively. "lick in circles around it." He did, and suppressed a grin as she sighed languidly and brushed her thigh against his cheek. This seemed pretty easy, he thought.

He shifted his weight and settled more comfortably. He figured he'd be here for a while yet. Rotor alternated between the flicking that had made Solar move her hips and the circling she had asked for. After a while, he opened his mouth wider and prodded his tongue into her vagina, tasting her savoury, slippery juices and swallowing them. Almost immediately, he heard her suck air in and push her hips downwards. _Lick my clitoris again,_ she seemed to be saying, so he did. He reared up a little and began to lick again, trying anything that came to mind.

He braced his tongue against it and sealed his lips around the front of her groin, sucking constantly, then rhythmically.

He counted one-minute intervals in his head when he gave attention to the top only, then the bottom only, and then the right, then the left.

He alternated using his tongue and pressing his cold nose against it, noting the pleasurable sigh he received in response.

Finally he moved his hand forward and took hers, the pair of them locking and re-locking their fingers as he picked the move that she had reacted to most of all and settled on it, moving his tongue gradually faster and faster until he found her optimum speed. Her breathing quickened and deepened and the muscles in her thighs began to flicker, contracting and relaxing in response to his movements.

With a gasp, she held her breath and gripped his hand hard, her whole body arching as she lifted her weight on her heels and the back of her skull, she trembled, gasping and sighing, for several seconds, before lowering herself onto the bed and pushing his head away politely but insistently. She laughed quietly and leaned forward, indulging him with a kiss. "Impressive," she murmured.

xXx

Rotor threaded his hand through the tangle of Solar's arms, brushing against her breast as he did so, until he found the surface of the bed. He shifted his weight backward so that he might lean against her better. Her hips rolled and she rested her top leg around his haunches, and he thrusted more deeply into her.

"Ah man, you're so beautiful," he whispered, leaning forward and burying his muzzle into the back of her head. She chuckled quietly in response.

He put his hand on her still-corseted belly and ground his hips harder against her. 'Spooning', she had called it, and it was a good, relaxing way to have sex. Sex like this was slow, warm, intimate; he liked it. And because he was taller than she was, he got to look down into the chasmic space of her cleavage. Silently, Rotor settled into the rhythm, closed his eyes and surrendered entirely to his sense of touch. The impossible hardness of her bound belly, the gentle, velvety tap-tap-tap of her antlers against his face, the powerful waves of pleasure travelling up and down his cock. The pleasing, cool softness of the bed sheets. He glanced up at the window and saw the dawn was coming.

xXx

The pair had been sleeping for a while. Rotor became aware of movement in the bed and opened his eyes blearily to see Solar sitting up and stretching, before standing and going through to her bathroom. He stretched too and sat on the edge of the bed.

He was amazed at all that had happened, that only 12 hours ago he had been very unsure whether he even wanted to go to Iniquity. He had only gone in an effort to cheer up Velvet. But man, had _that_ paid off.

Solar padded back into the room. She looked beautiful, he realised, her grey fur strangely dazzling in the sunlight, the light playing on her full curves, highlighting the white fur on her rump. She was still wearing the corset but, as he watched, she slowly took it off.

She started to stroke her body, her eyes locked on Rotor's, a wicked smile playing at the corners of her lips. Once, Rotor would have been painfully shy at the scene, but not now. Pleased with this bravado, he leaned back on his hands and watched her, enraptured.

Her body rippled slowly, movement travelling from her shoulders down to her knees. Sensually, she began to dance. "Sit on your hands," she ordered huskily. He obeyed, shifting his legs and putting his hands under them. She came closer, leaning in so he could see her cleavage, shimmying into the space between his knees and teasing him, playing on the fact that he could not touch her with his hands clamped down as they were. So instead he watched and relaxed. Well, most of his body relaxed, anyway.

If watching Velvet putting _on_ one of these garments had been sexy, he was now treated to the sight of Solar taking one _off._ She backed off a little distance and turned her back to him, glancing over her shoulder at him as she performed the striptease.

Gradually, little by little, she untied and loosened the cords running along her back. Slowly the strong, curved shape of her waist resolved into the gentler, but still sensuous, curves her body naturally made. She pulled the garment open so she could breathe unencumbered and lowered it to the floor, stepping out of it and turning sinuously back toward him.

Without a word, she assertively walked over to the bed and pushed his shoulder to make him lay on his back. Pulling both his wrists firmly over his head so he was in no doubt that he still must not touch her, she took hold of his erection and guided it inside her. Slowly, rhythmically, she started to rock.

Rotor closed his eyes and swallowed. The sensation was slow and warm and hypnotic. He bent his elbows so he could rest his head on his hands and watched her, taking in the sight of her softly-furred breasts, the regal tilt of her antlers, the expressions her face made.

Her hands felt his chest softly and made his skin tingle. His stomach muscles rippled ecstatically as she settled into a rhythm. She put the fingers of her right hand in his mouth and he sucked on them, wondering quite what she was going to do next. Then he found out.

She put her hand between her legs and began to stroke her clitoris. He looked down and watched, trembling again with desire as he watched her giving herself pleasure. Her face registered sultry enjoyment as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back. And so they remained for a while, the slow burn of their lovemaking bonding them.

Rotor had been locked in a state of internal bliss when he realised Solar was speeding up. Her hand was still busy, and he watched as she stretched her skin with her other hand, giving herself access to more pleasure. Then he felt her come, her vagina contracting rhythmically against his cock. The expression on her face was priceless, and Rotor decided then and there he was going to learn how to make a woman look like that by himself. But there wasn't much time to think about that: she began not to rock, but to bounce, her vagina stroking his cock faster and deeper, and he gave himself over to the feeling of another orgasm.

xXx

The pair of them had collapsed into each others arms after that and had both snoozed a little more. Before long Rotor had woken and got out of bed to fetch himself a drink. The next few hours - that glorious late morning and afternoon - were filled easily, and Rotor felt like he was in a trance. He couldn't remember the details, but he knew they had stroked each other, sitting together entwined, watching the world go by from her doorway. They mated twice more, and talked about everything and nothing, and Rotor had felt like he was honing his flirting skills. He had liked it.

But the time came when Solar told him she had work the next day, and would have to tidy up and prepare. He took the hint and kissed her goodbye, thanking her for an incredible night - and day. Eventually, he had picked up his bandolier and made off through the front door, waving goodbye to her and wondering if he would ever see her again.

xXx

Rotor approached his house from behind, where it backed onto the edge of a dense clump of growth in the Great Forest. He wanted to get home without talking to anybody. He felt elated, but his body was exhausted and he wanted nothing more than to get to bed and sleep. He opened the rear door that led into his bedroom and locked it behind him.

Immediately he lifted his belt off his shoulder and hung it from the corner of a chair. He walked up to his bed calmly, before leaping into the air and landing on his back on the mattress, bouncing into the air.

"Woo hoo!" he whooped and tucked his hands behind his head. He laughed and looked up at the ceiling. He was a man!

The first person he wanted to tell was Sonic. He knew how Sonic would react - they'd talked about sex before, and both knew the other wanted it. Sonic would congratulate him for his success. And he'd probably want to know the dirty details, too. Rotor chuckled to himself and wiped one eye, wondering what Sonic would make of it all. He'd certainly ask Rotor where he'd gone to to find Solar, there was no doubt about that.

Rotor stopped for a moment. He'd ask Rotor where he'd picked up Solar, but there was no way he could tell the truth. Sonic would want to know why Rotor and Velvet had gone to a fetish club. Which meant that Rotor would either have to tell Sonic that he and Velvet were an item, which Velvet wouldn't like and Antoine would know wasn't true, or tell him about his corset fetish, and there was no way he'd tell Sonic about that, or he'd have to lie about the club he'd been to, like Velvet had. Sonic would likely want to check the Boiler Room out some time and then he'd work out that Rotor had lied. Rotor's hand dropped back onto the bed.

He couldn't tell Sonic.

xXx

It was the next morning, and Rotor set to work as usual, reclaiming old electronic parts. He sat at his workbench and settled into a rhythm of loosening screws. Before long he saw a familiar fleck of blue up ahead. He glanced up at Sonic.

"Yo, Rote! How's it goin'?"

"Hey, not bad, man," the walrus replied. Sonic took a seat next to him and looked at him.

"Where'd ya get to yesterday? I was looking all over for you!"

Rotor shifted uncomfortably. "Yesterday?" he asked, playing for time. "Oh! Oh, yeah... Yesterday I went to Greenleaf and... looked around for some stuff. I needed an unusual kind of circuitboard."

Sonic seemed content enough with this; Rotor could always rely on Sonic not to know one end of a machine from another. Rotor gave Sonic what he hoped was a reassuring smile. Sonic smiled back, tapped his fingers, and then got up. "Well, gotta juice, man!" he said and sped off. Rotor watched the dust settle in Sonic's wake and sighed.

xXx

Sonic walked along the side of the river, frowning and looking at the ground. There was something up with Rotor. He'd disappeared for a whole day, which wasn't like him even when he had somewhere to go, and had looked like he was hiding something when Sonic had talked to him. Something definitely wasn't right.

He sat down on a rock and looked into the depths of the water, the calm, clear rippling helping him to focus his thoughts. Rotor's whole body posture had been saying something; there was a confidence in the way he had looked back at him that Sonic hadn't seen before. If Sonic didn't know better, he'd have said that Rotor wanted to tell him something.

Velvet had gone missing too, and he hadn't seen her at all since the meeting with the others. He wagered she was back, though. The mission was tonight and Sonic wondered whether he'd be able to speak to her before then. He decided he'd give Rotor's house another try in case she was asleep.

xXx

"Rotor!" Sonic called in a clipped tone. Rotor looked up sharply. He hadn't expected Sonic to come back.

"Yeah?"

"Velvet in?"

Rotor thought quickly. He genuinely didn't know. For all he knew she might have brought the seal here. If she was home, she'd either quietly been having sex or sleeping soundly all morning. She might still be out with the seal. But if she was home then he had to try to stop Sonic going up there. "Uhm, I dunno. She might not be home. I haven't seen her." he added.

"I'm gonna go check," Sonic said, walking toward the stairs.

"S-Sonic?" Rotor called. "I don't think you should go in there."

"Why not?" Sonic asked. And then, when Rotor didn't respond immediately, he came closer to the walrus. "What are you hiding, man?" he asked, feeling hurt.

Rotor looked edgy. "Nuthin'!"

"You are! Come on, tell me!"

At this point Rotor began to feel annoyed. He didn't like to argue, but right now he was forced to and he didn't like it. _Damn, why's it gotta be like this?_ he stormed to himself. He frowned and looked his friend straight in the eye. "Sonic!" Rotor said irritably, "I'm. Not. Hiding. Anything. I just think she's asleep."

"Look, if she's asleep I won't wake her. Okay?" Sonic said, his tone similarly tetchy. Rotor could do nothing but watch Sonic go upstairs and knock on the door. He winced as he half-expected Velvet to reply. There was no answer. Sonic opened the door silently and peered in, and Rotor felt himself cringe as he watched Sonic. He looked irritated and shut the door again before coming back downstairs.

"She's not there. I dunno what you're up to, Rote, but I'm gonna find out what it is!"

By this time Rotor felt thoroughly annoyed and turned back to his work. "Yeah," was all he said, sulkily. Sonic leapt down the step on his porch and walked away without saying bye.

TO BE CONINUED...

**A/N: If you're enjoying this story, you might want to check out my original fiction at FictionPress. Username Palantean Writer.**


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER:** "Sonic the Hedgehog" and most other characters and situations in the following story are copyrighted trademarks of Sega Incorporated, Archie Comics and/or DIC Productions.  
Velvet D'Coolette fancharacter © User ID 1415026.

Bookshire Draftwood © David Pistone.

Chapter 8

Night had fallen. The gates of the city that had once been Mobotropolis stood imposingly, rusted open as if challenging anyone to enter and survive the perils within. The last traces of a colourful sunset sank in the distance, taking their fierce, crimson light with them, leaving only the menacing darkness of a cloudy night. Scrawny rats, their fur dark and patchy, scurried around on the cold ground looking for the few small insects and spiders they could eat. A darkening mist swirled in the low breeze outside Robotropolis, waving its tendrils as if to shoo visitors away, and within it stood five figures, their features partially obscured.

One of them, a slim figure, stepped forward, looking at a square grille set into the wall and unclipping a hand-held computer from her boot. She tapped into the keypad. "Show us a map of the air ducts of Robotropolis," she ordered.

"Displaying, Sally," the computer responded, and opened the shutter on its holographic beam, displaying a fuzzy-edged map. The other Freedom Fighters stepped closer to the image to see it better. The route looked straightforward. Sally looked around at Velvet and pointed at a dark square that one of the ducts led to.

"That's the store room," she told her. "The serum's held in there."

Velvet nodded. "So some of us are going there?" It seemed a ridiculous question, but she wasn't sure how else to react. And she hoped that Sally didn't mean she should go in there alone.

"Yes," Sally confirmed, closing down the map. "I want you and Antoine to go to the store room and find any you can. Bring it here."

At this, Antoine's face dropped, and Velvet gave him a sideways glance. This the other Freedom Fighters noticed, but the taboo still seemed to be in place and nobody spoke.

Sonic took off his backpack and opened it, pulling out four pairs of his own gloves. He gave a pair each to Antoine and Velvet. "Here, take these. If you touch the serum it won't get on your skin." As Velvet and Antoine each took a pair and pulled them on he gave Sally a quizzical glance, _You're letting these two go together? They're not even talking! They'll screw it up!_ But she caught his eye and he kept his mouth shut. Sally broke the silence by turning to Rotor.

"You've got the passwords to get into the mainframe, right?" she asked, although she didn't need to; this part of the plan had already been agreed back in Knothole. He nodded and she turned back to the two coyotes. "We're going to use a different section of the air vent to get where we're going. We're going in here." She began to walk between the open gates. "C'mon, guys," she called to Sonic and Rotor. Rotor gave Sonic a nervous glance, and Sonic glared back. _You better not know anything that'll put us in danger,_ he thought, and they turned the corner, leaving the two coyotes alone together.

Velvet looked at Antoine, seeking guidance. "So I suppose we go in h-" Antoine scowled at her and marched toward the grille, gripping it and pulling at it. He couldn't seem to move it, so Velvet joined in.

"I am not... _nngghh,_ to be needing of your 'elp! _Nnngghh,_" he snarled as he struggled. Velvet did not take her hands off the grille.

"You'll get help whether you... _Nngghh,_ like it or NOT!" she shouted the last word in surprise as the grille came loose with their combined effort. They looked at each other for a second before Antoine hissed and crawled into the vent.

Velvet stood there, the grille resting against her bent leg. She shook her head in disbelief at her brother's stubbornness and then cast the grille to one side. She crawled into the vent behind him.

xXx

Sonic raced forward, hiding behind a steel pillar and looking around the corner. The SWATbot patrol passed, their footbeats thumping dully on the ground as they walked past and out of sight. Then he whispered a "Psst!" at his companions and waited for them to run to him.

Without a word he tip-toed around the corner and swiftly dispatched the SWATbots before coming back and waving Sally and Rotor toward the entrance.

"We're looking for the room below Robotnik's main computer," Rotor said quietly, looking above him and around the tunnel through which they walked. Sonic said nothing and Rotor glanced at him, unsure if he had heard. Sonic caught his eye and frowned.

"Happy going that close to Butt-nik, ol' pal?" he asked acidly. Rotor stopped in his tracks and looked back at him in surprise for a moment. He had felt the friction between them but hadn't expected Sonic to be like this! Sally expected Sonic to stop walking and paused too. When Sonic continued to sneak forward without them she looked at Rotor, who threw her a confused glance in return, before continuing to follow the hedgehog.

"What is it between you two?" she asked him quietly. She didn't like to see these two friends fighting, and she liked seeing Sonic antagonise the walrus even less. Rotor was a peaceful guy and didn't like confrontations. In fact, it was only his loyalty to his friends that kept him in the Knothole Freedom Fighters.

"I dunno," he said glumly, and walked on.

They were inside Robotnik's fortress.

xXx

"Antoine?" Velvet whispered ahead. No answer.

"Antoine?"

Again, nothing.

"Antoine!"

_"What?"_

"What happens if we meet someone, like a robot or something?"

Antoine's only answer was to tut, shake his head and carry on crawling. Velvet watched the shifting silhouette of her brother's form for a moment. She was scared, but the main reason for her question was to get him talking. They couldn't carry on like this.

"Well?"

Antoine stopped, remained still for a breath as if willing himself to have patience and whispered back to her. "Eef we are to be meeting a robot we will be fighting zem." And, without saying how they would fight, he moved on.

Velvet watched the sorry stump of his tail move from side to side as he led them further into the ducts, her jaw clenching with fear. She carried on crawling so as not to let him out of her sight.

xXx

Sonic, Sally and Rotor huddled together quietly, waiting for the Hoverbots to pass by. They didn't want to be seen, so they stayed in the shadows. Eventually, the hum of the flying machines receded into the distance and they looked out. All clear.

Sally pointed at a dark rectangle on the far side of the courtyard. "There's a vent over there!" she whispered, and began to tip-toe across the room, hiding behind boxes and pillars. Sonic followed her, knocking Rotor not-so-accidentally in the ribs with his elbow as he did so. Behind her, Sally heard the thump as he did. She was going to ignore it until they started arguing.

"Sonic, I know you're angry, but that was kinda lame," Rotor chided.

"What d'you say?" Sonic hissed confrontationally, squaring up to Rotor. Rotor frowned, looking Sonic in the eye.

"You heard what I said," Rotor replied. It sounded to Sally like he was trying to sound aggressive, but Rotor's heart, it seemed, wasn't in it.

"Guys, stop it!" Sally whispered. They glanced her way, and then Sonic started again.

"You wanna tell me what you're hiding, Rote?"

Rotor's jaw clenched. "I'm not hiding anything, Sonic. I already told you!"

"Yes you are!"

Rotor wished he hadn't started this conversation and went to follow Sally. "Sonic, will you cut it out?" he threw over his shoulder, hoping that would be the end of it.

"Spit it out!"

"Sonic!" Sally hissed.

"I can't!" he turned and looked Sonic in the eyes, apparently changing tactics. "I can't. Okay?" he repeated. "I promised I wouldn't."

"Promised who? _Velvet?_" Sonic asked, mocking.

"Maybe," Rotor said reluctantly, and went to follow Sally again. Sonic grabbed his arm and kept him there.

"You in love with her, man? 'Cos if that's what it is-"

"-I'm not in love with her, Sonic!" Rotor snapped a little too quickly. Sonic folded his arms and said nothing, waiting for Rotor to say more. Rotor went quiet and shook his head angrily, turning away from Sonic again.

"Look, I can't say any more," he said finally. Sonic made to say something and Rotor cut him off. "Forget it!" And with that, he turned his back on Sonic.

The argument had taken them to the other side of the room and they now stood in front of the air vent. Sally gripped the grille and braced her foot against the wall, trying to dislodge it. Rotor helped and it came loose. Silently, they both climbed inside, leaving Sonic to bring up the rear. The hedgehog pulled the grille back into place behind him and followed sullenly.

Sonic felt hurt and angry. It was rare that he and Rotor argued, but when they did, Rotor was surprisingly stubborn. Usually, Rotor would prefer to let Sonic lead, so it was proof of Rotor's stubbornness that now, in the vent, he was the one leading. He felt grumpy because Sally wasn't backing him up, but there was something about Rotor's secrecy that made Sonic feel scared. Were they growing apart? His heart beating faster, his muscles clenched, his lungs seemed to feel tight, Sonic crawled on his hands and knees, following his companions.

xXx

Antoine stopped sharp. In the dim light inside the air duct he could see a gaping chasm in front of him. A vertical chute, extending down into the darkness. He looked fearfully down into its depths and started to tremble. Then he heard Velvet shuffle up behind him and he clamped down on his fear.

"What is it?" her feminine voice whispered behind him. He tensed with irritation.

"Nutteeng," he said in a clipped tone and reached over the gap to feel for the opposite edge. With difficulty he found it and coiled his muscles, ready to make the best leap he could given the cramped space. He launched himself horizontally from the cold floor and immediately gripped the opposite ledge. He pulled himself up, whimpering, over the far edge. Satisfied that he was safe, he turned around reluctantly to wait for Velvet to cross.

She looked into his eyes and he shuffled, uncomfortable. Then she sprang forward, her arms outstretched for the ledge. She accidentally hit her head on the low ceiling, her arms weakening momentarily and he saw she was not going to make the jump. Instinctively, his arms shot out to catch her wrist and she dangled, wriggling and looking down over her shoulder, eyes wide. For a fraction of a second they stayed like that, she hanging precariously, he with his hand clamped around her wrist. She looked up at him and he saw his own fear in her face.

He levered himself backwards, pulling her over the edge, to safety. They both lay there for a moment, panting. Velvet sat up and massaged her wrist, looking with large eyes at Antoine. He looked back at her and felt something inside him waver. Then he remembered the dispute between them and his face hardened.

"Come on," he ordered and turned around, leading her around a corner toward the banded light, toward the store room.

xXx

0000.57E47

***MASTERBOARD ON***

000110000100001000.00010000011000001

***OPEN SLAVE SYSTEMS***

***VERTICAL DIRECTOR FUNCTIONING***

***AIRVIAL SEALED. HINGE FUNCTIONING***

1000101010101001.1010100101010101000101100011

***PREPARE FOR LAUNCH IN T-15.00***

14.59...

14.58...

14.57...

xXx

Antoine pushed on the grille that led into the store room. Thankfully it was a looser fit than the one in the city walls and he managed to dislodge it himself. Quietly, he lowered it to the floor and crawled out of the vent. He sensed Velvet doing the same and walked immediately to the nearest shelf. He ignored her completely.

Velvet looked around. "There's so much stuff here," she commented. _Say something, Antoine!_

Antoine remained silent for a few seconds before saying, "Zere will be a bottle 'ere somewhere. Be quiet and I will be finding it."

"Two people searching is better than one."

"I am not wanting you to 'elp me!" he snapped, and, unable to stop himself, added, "You are dirty and wrong and... and..." he picked up a canister of something and looked at it, knowing it wasn't what they were there for but needing something to break the contact.

"Antoine," his sister said, using his full name, "I know you don't like who I am, but we need to sort something out. We're the only family we've got."

Antoine breathed deeply for a moment, trying not to let the sudden swirl of emotions in his chest reach his eyes. "You cannot be... gay." He mumbled the last word.

"I am what I am. I can't change that."

"Try!"

At this, Velvet sighed and sat down on a ledge. "I did, once. When I was 16, a boy fell in love with me. He told me so; he wanted to be with me. I tried to love him back, Tony, I really did. But I couldn't." _Well, it's not too far from the truth!_

"I couldn't work out why I didn't love him. He was so affectionate toward me," she lied, this seeming the best way to tell Antoine the truth. "Around the same time, I fell in love, too. A girl in the same village as me. I didn't dare say anything for a long time. But when I finally told him, the boy was so hurt that he decided to get revenge on me and told the whole village. I had to leave.

"I have travelled a lot since, finding temporary homes in towns and villages, but I can never really stay anywhere because I can't tell anybody the truth. But a while ago, Tony, you sent me a message, and I wondered if, perhaps, finally, I might have a home. Please tell me you understand how important that is to me.

"I have waited for a chance to tell you, to find a way _how_ to tell you so that you wouldn't be too shocked. I don't know how I could have done it better, but I think I got it wrong."

She fell silent, waiting for Antoine's response. He was standing side-on to her, still holding the canister to his chest. Slowly he looked up.

"But Knothole. What if zey were to be learning of zis?"

"I understand your concern, Tony, because I have had to live with it so long myself. I don't need to tell them. I only need a small number of people around me who know the real me. You're one of them. Rotor is another."

Antoine looked at her, shocked. "Rotor knows?"

"Yes."

"_Why?_"

"Because," she looked up at him meaningfully. "He started to fall in love with me, too. I couldn't lead him on, Tony. That wouldn't be right."

Antoine looked dazed, and sat down beside her. They sat in silence together for just a moment. He looked at her and took a breath to speak, but then the door unlocked. Antoine gasped and gripped Velvet's arm, pulling her into one of the aisles to hide. They ducked and watched as Snively walked inside.

They watched through gaps in the stock on the shelves as he stood for a moment, scanning the shelves and considering what he needed, whatever that might be. Then he walked toward the opposite end of the aisle they were in. Antoine sneaked to the end. Velvet followed.

Snively walked along the aisle while Antoine and Velvet tip-toed two aisles along and hid, watching him again. Antoine breathed a sigh of relief: Snively seemed unaware they were there. He mopped the sweat off his brow, and his elbow caught a hollow arm-piece for a SWATbot. Velvet leaned forward and tried to catch it before it made too much noise but it bounced off her hand and clanged noisily on the floor, a few feet away from where they were.

Snively looked up sharply and trotted around to where he'd heard the noise. He looked down the aisle and his eyes locked on the arm-piece lying on the floor. He looked around the room and Antoine and Velvet ducked out of sight. "I know you're here," he called, "and I'll find you!" He walked back up the aisle to scan each space swiftly.

There were 13 aisles in the store-room: 12 shelves. Snively started with the extreme left hand one. Nothing. He stepped along and looked down the second one. Nothing there either. He looked down the third one. Clear...

Antoine and Velvet stood, hidden by the solid metal at the far end of the shelf, looking at each other in panic. Velvet tapped his arm and glanced around into the aisle Snively had just looked down, if his footbeats were anything to go by. Empty. She gestured him to follow so that the were against the wall. Frantically, she started to search for the elusive bottle. Antoine searched too.

TO BE CONTINUED...

**A/N: If you're enjoying this story, you might want to check out my original fiction at FictionPress. Username Palantean Writer.**


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER:** "Sonic the Hedgehog" and most other characters and situations in the following story are copyrighted trademarks of Sega Incorporated, Archie Comics and/or DIC Productions.  
Velvet D'Coolette fancharacter © User ID 1415026.

Bookshire Draftwood © David Pistone.

Chapter 9

Sonic lifted the grille out of the side of the air vent and set it beside him beside the square hole. He stuck his head out of the hole and looked around for danger. Nobody was present. The room beneath the main computer was dark and grimy, forbidding. But deserted. He jumped out, landing on the metal-tiled floor and walked out of the way for Sally and Rotor to drop out. He stood watching them, arms folded, tapping his foot. Rotor walked around the central computer, looking for the control panel. Sonic huffed. "So, you know what you're doing, right? _Get to work!"_

"Sonic!" Sally scolded. His expression remained hard and they locked eyes for a few seconds. Then, coldly, they both looked away, neither wanting to argue or give ground just yet. Sally brushed her hair out of her eyes and located the master panel. "Here it is," she called to Rotor, who trotted around to join her. She plugged NICOLE into the system. "NICOLE, give me a list of blueprints for all available scout bots."

"Accessing, Sally," NICOLE replied. A couple of seconds later, she beamed up a list.

GarbagebotGathererbotMessengerbotSurveillancebotSWATbot

"There!" she said, and pointed to one named Gathererbot. "NICOLE, enter the blueprint file for Gathererbot."

"Blueprints passworded," NICOLE replied flatly.

"Rotor?" Sally prompted. NICOLE's signal light blinked as Rotor typed in the password, number by number. Sally balled her hand into a fist and waited, watching the holographic beam intently.

Rotor looked around at Sonic to gauge his friend's current mood. The hedgehog still looked angry and was about to say something when NICOLE announced the file was open. The squirrel and walrus looked up at the open file.

"Okay..." Rotor mused, choosing to focus on the task at hand. He looked critically at the blueprint before tapping instructions into NICOLE. He moved plates and re-bolted them elsewhere. He deleted springs. He bolted down hinges. Finally he looked at Sally with triumph and said, "done!"

"NICOLE, where is this robot's launchpad?"

"Accessing, Sally," NICOLE replied and beamed a map, a large red dot indicating the location of the launchpad. She didn't look around as she felt Sonic look at the map over her shoulder. "When is the next launch?"

"Launch in T minus three minutes twelve seconds," NICOLE replied. Sally tapped NICOLE's board and closed the file.

"Right," Sally said with an air of finality. She turned to Sonic. "Now we just need to find that bot!"

xXx

Velvet and Antoine had managed to stay silent since Antoine had knocked over the piece of robot armour. But Snively was nearly at the far end of the room and they were only on the 7th aisle and had still not found the serum. Velvet held her breath and tried not to panic.

"Come out," intoned Snively impatiently, his footbeats coming closer again. Velvet heard a whimpering sound. She looked around at Antoine and saw that he was trembling, his hands on his cheeks as if trying to keep himself still. He wasn't searching. He slowly looked around, apparently at a loss for what to do, until he saw Velvet looking at him curiously. He tried to stop, but he could not still his trembling.

"What do we do?" she mouthed at him, shrugging. His eyes shot from the left to the right and then back again. Suddenly he gripped her arm again and shot around the corner: Snively was just on the other side of this shelf from them. They scurried along and to the opposite side.

Hurrying, they both ran to the far wall and systematically searched the shelves from that side, ears twitching frantically, keeping track of Snively's movements, aching from the agonising silence, when Velvet shot up to her brother, a bottle held in her hand. Antoine's face lit up: that was it!

"So there you are, rats!" Snively crowed. The two of them looked around in shock. He took a gadget from his belt and pressed a button on it. "Intruders in Miscellaneous Store Room. Send backup team immediately." The two coyotes looked at each other in despair. Knowing he had them cornered, Snively grinned and approached.

xXx

1110101011111101111.11111001001101111.

***BASE LOWERED***

***JETS FUNCTIONING AND CLEAR***

0.59...

0.58...

0.57...

xXx

The two coyotes instinctively tried to run away, planning to run along the aisle to the side of the room and then race up the far aisle and escape through the vent, but Snively ran the other way and headed them off. They tried to run further back into the room, but the door opened and the first of a SWATbot team emerged. Gasping, they stumbled back the other way until they found themselves stuck in the corner, robots on one side, Snively in front of them. The human chuckled.

"SWATbots, await my next instructions!" Snively barked at the robots. The team stood passively, red lights winking on the fronts of their heads. He turned back to the two coyotes. "Such a pity to see your efforts go to waste," he mused, checking his nails. "What were you here for, impostors?" Antoine stumbled over an incoherent reply, glancing at Velvet, before he realised that she must have kept the bottle from view. She looked back at him blankly.

"W-we are t-to looking for..." he whimpered quietly, wondering what to say, and then fell silent, trembling. Velvet deliberately didn't look at him, and instead glanced between Snively and the robots, unsure of what to do.

Velvet had noticed long ago that Antoine had a high voice. That wasn't a problem - when he was taking charge he sounded authoritative enough. That, however, didn't seem to be very often, and the rest of the time, when he was ingratiating himself to Sally, for instance, he used the lighter notes of his voice, which made him sound as if he were frightened, and the overall effect made him appear to be in an almost perpetual panic. But now, faced with an enemy, Velvet was surprised to hear him whimper. Her brother had shown himself up several times to be less than noble, but she hadn't expected any Commander to let himself sound so frightened. Seeing him tremble out of the corner of her eye she began to suspect she might have to be the one to get them out of this trap. But how?

She coughed to get Snively's attention. "Ammunition," she sighed, looking resigned. Snively turned to her.

"You were planning to steal ammunition from this store room?" he leered, approaching her slowly. She watched him approach, feeling alert.

"Sort of," she explained, deliberately sounding gauche. She had just the beginning of a plan. "It's my first mission, this is more of a training exercise for me, I think." He walked slowly closer to her, invading her personal space.

"You're lying, rat," he grinned, "We don't keep our ammunition h-"

CRUNCH!

Velvet hopped backwards, dislodging her foot from his groin and looking frantically at Antoine. He had instinctively hunched over in sympathy and his face showed a shadow of the agony on Snively's face. A split second later, they both raced down the aisle. The SWATbots stood still, weapons at the ready, waiting for a command from Snively.

The instruction never came. The human shook with agony, nausea spreading from his stomach and - somehow - into his arms and legs. His hands clamped to his testicles, he fell over on his side and curled up, breath caught in his throat, coldness and heat throbbing sickeningly through his muscles, unable to speak, as the SWATbots stood impassively over him. Behind his curved back, Antoine and Velvet practically vaulted into the vent, scrambling around the corner out of harm's reach.

xXx

Sonic skidded to a halt and set Sally and Rotor down. Hurriedly, the trio looked around for the iron and steel version of the robot that had sat, squat, in the image of the blueprint file. They trotted into a curved arena of tall storage tanks and there it was. Sally gasped.

"There!" she whispered, pointing. The circular robot stood, gleaming, on its base. There was silence, except for the almost inaudible beep of a timer. Suddenly it raised itself onto a tripod of legs, its engine whirring furiously. As they watched, invisible flames erupted from its downturned jets, kicking up particles of burnt dust and rippling the air. They were going to be too late!

"_Sonic! Hurry!_" Sally shrieked, reaching out to push Sonic's shoulder in an effort to make him run faster. She found herself pushing against thin air and almost fell. Rotor caught her. Steadying herself, she looked in the direction of the rising gathererbot and watched it rise rapidly into the air.

Sonic could jump high, but at this rate even his athletic leap wasn't going to be enough. Sonic veered unexpectedly to the left. He ran horizontally along the barrels of the storage tanks, round and round, higher and higher, whirring around his companions' heads, gathering momentum. At the last moment, he dipped vertical and launched himself upwards into a powerful leap. He outstretched his arms as he neared the retreating Gathererbot. Then, tucking his arms in, he curled up and struck the bot hard with his back. It tipped off course, a dent in its shell.

Sonic gripped the bot's handle. His weight was too much for it and it fell. He climbed on top of its round shell and kicked it downwards. The strength in his legs propelled it at an unnatural speed and it shattered on the ground, glass and metal and circuitry flickering and dying on the ground. Sally and Rotor high-fived each other and looked up to see where Sonic was.

The upward propulsion Sonic had gained from the kick fizzled out and he began to fall. He looked down. "Oh, man!" he cried out, realising that he was falling towards the broken, sharp remains of the robot. He couldn't get out of the way. Arms flailing, he watched as the twisted shards of metal grew nearer. He closed his eyes against the impact.

"Gotcha!" Rotor announced, the word thumping out of him as he caught Sonic. Sonic opened his eyes to find himself in Rotor's arms. He looked up at Rotor, relieved for a moment, and then his expression darkened again.

"Get off me!" he grumbled and struggled out of Rotor's grip. Rotor let him go, glancing at Sally. Sonic dusted himself off and stalked out of the wreckage, as if to pretend Rotor hadn't just saved his life.

"Right," said Sally, rolling her eyes. "Let's go!" Silently, Sonic picked her up, grabbed Rotor's arm and sped out of the arena.

xXx

Velvet led Antoine on all fours along the vent. She paused just long enough to throw the serum bottle as gently as she could over the other side of the vent. Then she launched herself over the vertical drop - this time managing to catch the far ledge and scrambling to safety - and waited for Antoine to do the same.

On the other side, they finally slowed down to get their breath back. They looked at each other for a moment before Velvet burst out laughing, stifling herself with her hands. "This is what you do for a living?" she giggled. "It's fantastic!"

Antoine's expression wavered. "I am not to be sure, Velvet," he countered, although he felt light-headed with relief, too. "You might to be changing your mind when you see ze other missions!" They grinned at each other for a while. Then Antoine remembered the conversation they had been having and his expression became sombre. Velvet smiled understandingly and put a hand on his.

"Antoine, listen to me." She paused to ensure he gave her his attention. He looked at her sadly. "I don't advertise the fact that I'm gay. It pays for me to be quiet about it. I won't embarrass you. In return, all I want is your acceptance of me as I am. Can we agree to that?"

"Yes," he replied quietly, closing his eyes. Velvet nodded.

"Then there is just one last thing." Velvet said, and then she told him about the conversation she'd had with Sally and Bunnie during the party, about how she was caught out and only Sally's grace had prevented more questions. She reminded him about Rotor, with whom she lived and with whom she had shared a kiss, which had forced her to reveal the truth. Finally she pointed out the quarrel between Sonic and Rotor because of her secrecy.

"I know you don't like Sonic," she concluded, "so if you will not do it for him, then do it for Rotor. I am now so close to the Freedom Fighters, Tony, that problems are starting to arise because they don't know about me. More will do so if I don't say anything. I will not tell them without your permission, but I would recommend it."

Antoine opened his mouth to object, and then realised that there was nothing he could say. He looked at the ground and held his breath, thinking of other possible courses of action, but he could think of none. Velvet was right: the others had to be told. Antoine looked back up and nodded dumbly at her. Her smile broadened and she squeezed his hand, and then crawled forward to embrace him. "We'll be fine, you and me," she said quietly, her voice echoing in the darkness. "Now, let's get back to the others before we're missed."

xXx

Sally sighed and looked at her watch; she was worried. They had been waiting for half an hour and Antoine and Velvet still hadn't shown up. The boys were giving each other the silent treatment, which was a blessing: she'd had just about enough of their fighting.

The air vent rattled and she whipped around. The sound grew louder and she smiled with relief as she recognised the ring of two bodies crawling through an enclosed space. Velvet dropped out of the vent first. She put down a bottle and picked up the grille while her brother followed. Together they lifted the grille back into place and shoved it into its slot. Then Antoine picked up the bottle, offered Velvet his arm which she accepted and they walked up to the other group.

"My princess: ze serum!" announced Antoine, offering Sally the bottle.

"You got it! Great job, guys!" Sally said, taking the bottle from Antoine. "Come on, let's go home." She turned away from Robotropolis and began to walk. Antoine hurried to follow her, beginning to tell her about Snively, followed by Rotor. Velvet made to keep up with her brother but something in Sonic's stance told her to stay back. She dropped behind so they could both bring up the rear together.

"So you guys are talkin'," he said curtly. Velvet kept the look on her face placid.

"Yes, thankfully. That's why we took so long - sorry, we were sorting ourselves out."

"So what is it, Velvet?" Sonic rounded on her. She stopped in her tracks, facing him. He looked her in the eye, demanding an answer.

"Sonic, I realise that I've been secretive these last few days-"

"Damn right!" he snapped.

"-and that it's caused a fall-out between you and Rotor, but I'm going to tell you _all_ what the problem is. Tonight. You deserve to be told the truth."

"Tell me now!"

"Bunnie should know, too. Can you not wait at least a while for her?"

"No way! Tell me!" Sonic argued back. Behind him Velvet saw the others pause. Sally trotted back to the pair of them. "You're gonna tell me _right now!_" Sonic repeated. Behind him, Rotor seemed to hold his breath and Antoine's face was a picture of dread.

"Tell you what?" Sally asked. Sonic didn't take his eyes off Velvet.

"Velvet's gonna tell us what she's been hiding!"

Velvet looked at Sally. "I'm going to tell everyone together. That includes Bunnie, so I want to tell everyone tonight. Will you back me up on this, Sally?" She asked calmly. Sally stepped forward and put a hand on Sonic's shoulder.

"Let her go, Sonic," she said. He looked around at her irritably, and then stalked away from Velvet without looking back. The coyote breathed a sigh of relief and joined Sally to walk behind the others. Sally's demeanour was kind but light. "Tell me it's none of my business, Velvet," she said quietly when she was sure the others couldn't hear, "but are you gay?" Velvet nearly tripped over her own feet.

"H-how did you know?" she stammered.

"Something in the way you looked uncomfortable when we talked about the guys at Knothole," Sally replied. "But not that on its own. The way you got so close to Rotor but you're not an item. And..." she laughed quietly. "Antoine's a stuffy guy." Velvet couldn't help but snigger at this. "When you to argued I guessed you'd told him something.

"I wasn't sure it was that, but it seemed to fit."

Velvet shook her head in disbelief. "You're sharp; not many people work it out!"

"Well, when you're a leader you have to notice things," Sally replied. "Come on, let's catch up with your brother!" They ran together and caught up with the others.

xXx

Sonic walked silently, feeling the large presence of Rotor by his side, but not talking to him. He still felt angry, but not as angry as he had. He felt more hurt confused than anything. He had noticed Sally talking to Velvet, and wondered what they were saying, but it seemed that, whatever it was, Sally was not concerned.

He still could not talk to Rotor. The walrus had reacted subtly to Sally and Velvet's chat and seemed happier somehow, but for now Sonic still couldn't talk. What would they say? Nothing was going to be revealed until tonight.

He looked at the ground and sighed to himself. He guessed he'd have to wait, and he had a feeling that he was going to have to apologise to Rotor when Velvet did speak. He glanced up at his friend and was slightly embarrassed to see him smiling supportively back.

"Sonic, it's cool, man," said the walrus. All Sonic could do was half-smile in return.

xXx

It was midnight. A crescent moon hung over the Great Forest, partially obscured by the trailing smoke of the camp fire. Around the campfire sat the Knothole Freedom Fighters, and they were talking about the mission they had been on. Bunnie Rabbott, part-roboticized rabbit and highly valued member of the team, put her hands over her mouth and giggled uncontrollably.

"You kicked ol' Snively in the cherries?" she chuckled. Velvet laughed and nodded.

"It just seemed the simplest thing to do!"

Sally shook her head, amusement on her face. "We've spent years fighting a high tech war, then our new girl comes up with a low-tech solution!" the group chuckled. Then Velvet caught Sally's eye and the princess nodded. Velvet cleared her throat.

"There's something I have to say to you all," she began. She looked at Rotor, who nodded understandingly for her to go on. "I've been keeping this to myself for a while because I needed to get an idea of how you would all react, and now I have as good an idea as I ever will. And I have to tell you now because there's been confusion between some members of this group." at this, she looked at Sonic, who was leaning forward, listening intently.

"The truth is, I'm gay," she said calmly. Sonic's eyes widened and he gawped back at her, slack-jawed. He and Bunnie looked at one another, just as surprised as eachother. When he looked back at Velvet he was smiling.

"That's all it is?" he asked happily. Again, Velvet smiled and nodded and glanced around the others to see their reaction. Sally, of course, was not surprised. Rotor mouthed a 'good job!' at her, Sonic and Bunnie were giving each other a look of amused disbelief, and Antoine looked embarrassed but made do with squirming quietly and looking at the floor. Perhaps he looked relieved, she couldn't quite tell. Velvet took a breath.

"So: any questions?" she asked. There was a silence for a moment.

"Can a lesbian really beat a guy at 8-ball?" Sonic asked playfully.

"You just set yourself up for a tournament, pal!" Velvet answered, and the group laughed. Everything seemed just fine.

xXx

The group had divided up and everybody was talking happily. Sonic looked around for Rotor.

"Yo, Sonic, come over here!" Rotor called from a short distance away. He waved Sonic over, leading him further away from the others. Sonic followed him until they were out of earshot.

"What?"

"You know I went missing for a day?" Rotor began. He was smiling.

"Yeah?" Sonic tilted his head, interested to know what had happened, glad that his friend was at last going to be open with him.

Meanwhile, around the fire, the girls were talking.

"So that's why you didn't get together with ol' Rotor!" Bunnie said. "Ah was wonderin'!" she glanced at Sally and they laughed. Sally's ear twitched as she heard Sonic's voice ring out as the guys talked.

"ALRIGHT, ROTE!" Sonic exclaimed happily, slapping his friend on the shoulder. Glancing over, Sally could see Rotor looking shy but happy, laughing. She didn't know what they were talking about, but she was happy to see they were friends again.

THE END.

**A/N: If you enjoyed this story, you might want to check out my original fiction at FictionPress. Username Palantean Writer.**


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